Tag: chad ryland

Here’s what Patriots gave up in trade to get Maryland K Chad Ryland

The Patriots were aggressive in getting kicker Chad Ryland.

The New England Patriots came together with the rival New York Jets for a rare draft day trade to move up on the board and select Maryland kicker Chad Ryland.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Patriots sent picks No. 120 and 184 to the Jets for the 112th overall pick in the fourth round.

Ryland was widely recognized as the second-best kicker on the draft board behind Michigan’s Jake Moody, who went 99th overall in the third round to the San Francisco 49ers.

It was clearly time for the Patriots to look to the future with kicker Nick Folk turning 39 years old later this year.

The Patriots have shifted focus to special teams and offensive line in the fourth round on Day 3 of the 2023 NFL draft. With Ryland, they hope they’ve secured their kicker of the future.

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Patriots trade up to select Maryland K Chad Ryland in fourth round

The Patriots trade up for a kicker in the fourth round.

The New England Patriots traded up in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft on Saturday to select Maryland kicker Chad Ryland with the No. 112 pick.

In what has been a mostly defensive draft for the Patriots, the team has gone with offense with center Jake Andrews and now special teams with Ryland to kick-start Day 3.

Ryland was believed to be the second-best kicker in this year’s draft behind Michigan’s Jake Moody. He made 19 field goals out of 23 attempts with Maryland last season, along with posting a 97.5 extra point percentage.

The Patriots traded a fourth-round (No. 120) and sixth-round pick (No. 184) to the New York Jets to move up and get their kicker for the future.

Ryland should have an opportunity to work his way into the mix early and potentially take the reins from veteran Nick Folk.

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Titans among teams with interest in Maryland K Chad Ryland

The Titans have shown interest in Maryland K Chad Ryland.

With the Tennessee Titans in the market for a kicker this offseason, the team is showing interest in Maryland kicker and 2023 NFL draft prospect, Chad Ryland.

The news comes from The Draft Network’s Justin Melo, who notes that the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers are also showing interest.

After letting Randy Bullock go, the Titans need to bring in some competition for 2022 UDFA Caleb Shudak, and preferably one with a bigger leg than Bullock.

As Lance Zierlein of NFL.com points out in his scouting report for Ryland, the Maryland product has the leg for 50-yard kicks (he made 60 percent of his 50-yarders), but “is nothing special by NFL standards.”

Five-year kicker with four seasons at Eastern Michigan and one at Maryland. Ryland has the leg to make 50-plus-yard field goals and handle kickoffs, but it is nothing special by NFL standards. He will need to improve his overall accuracy and placement to make an NFL team.

I’m a huge proponent of the Titans targeting a kicker with one of their late-round picks if they aren’t going to add a veteran in free agency, with Michigan kicker Jake Moody being my No. 1 preference.

Ryland will certainly be an option in the later rounds, but he may also be attainable as an undrafted free agent afterwards. Moody, on the other hand, will have to be drafted if the Titans want him.

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49ers 2023 prospect watch: K Chad Ryland brings big leg, experience

Here’s some stuff on a kicker the #49ers could draft:

Despite a trade to acquire kicker Zane Gonzalez from the Carolina Panthers, the 49ers could still be in the market for a kicker in the NFL draft. While Michigan’s Jake Moody is the consensus top prospect at the position, Maryland’s Chad Ryland is another intriguing option. He told Justin Melo of the Draft Network that he had a private workout with the 49ers.

Ryland has a couple of things on his side as a prospect.

First, he has a ton of kicks under his belt. He played at Eastern Michigan for four seasons where he hit 75.7 percent of his 74 field goal tries. He also connected on 97.2 percent of his 145 extra point attempts. Ryland transferred to Maryland for his final college season and connected on 82.6 percent of his 23 kicks and on 39 of his 40 extra points.

He also has a big leg that allows him to handle kickoffs effectively and allows him to have range beyond 50 yards. Accuracy on kicks will matter above all, but the ability to turn more kickoffs into touchbacks to take pressure of a sometimes shaky 49ers coverage unit would be welcome. It may even be a necessity as the team evaluates the kickers in this year’s draft.

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Titans special teams coaches were in attendance at Maryland pro day

The Titans sent special teams coaches to the Maryland pro day on Wednesday.

The Tennessee Titans are in the midst of doing their pro day rounds across the country.

You obviously hear about the big-name prospects getting actual head coaches and general managers to attend their pro days, but the majority of these workouts get flooded with positional coaches and/or team scouts.

According to Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network, the Titans were one of the teams that reportedly had special teams coaches in attendance for the Maryland pro day on Wednesday.

It doesn’t specify which coaches exactly, but we can assume it was either special team coordinator Craig Aukerman and/or his assistants Anthony Levine and Tom Quinn.

Considering the team currently doesn’t have a kicker on its roster, it’s a pretty safe bet that Tennessee’s staff had a keen interest in watching Second-Team All-Big 10 kicker, Chad Ryland.

The Maryland product has made approximately 84.4 percent of his kicks since the start of the 2020 season (49-of-58).

Tennessee undoubtedly wants a kicker that is capable of consistently making longer kicks, something the team has severely struggled with over the last few years.

When it comes to the former Terrapin, over the last three years, the talented kicker went 13-of-15 (86 percent) from 40-to-49 yards out. However, Ryland saw a steep drop off when tasked with anything longer than that, only making six of his 11 kicks from 50 yards or longer (54.5 percent).

Nevertheless, Ryland’s overall accuracy will certainly intrigue teams around the league, with Tennessee clearly being one of them.

As things stand now, the Titans only have 2022 UDFA kicker Caleb Shudak on the roster, but head coach Mike Vrabel made it clear the team is looking to bring in competition for him. Vrabel also isn’t closing the door on bringing Randy Bullock back.

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Kickers the Bucs could target in the NFL Draft

Will Jason Licht draft another kicker?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers find themselves in a familiar (if unwelcome) situation: needing a kicker. After cutting Ryan Succop, the Bucs are back on the hunt, and knowing general manager Jason Licht, it may well lead them to the NFL Draft.

While Succop was a reliable kicker within 50 yards of the uprights, he was all but useless beyond it, making just two of seven field goal attempts beyond 50 yards in 2022. This was less of a problem when the Bucs had Tom Brady leading the best scoring offense in the league, but that is no longer a luxury they enjoy.

The Bucs saved $3.75 million against the cap by cutting Succop. Their current financial woes make it unlikely that they will be able to pay a top-end free-agent kicker to replace him.

That leaves the draft or signing an undrafted free agent, which may not be ideal. Jason Licht has not been very successful drafting kickers, trading up to the second round for Roberto Aguayo in 2016 and taking Matt Gay in the fifth round in 2019.

Aguayo flamed out almost immediately. He struggled mightily his rookie season, making just 71% of his field goals. The Bucs cut him in 2017 and he never kicked in the NFL again.

Gay also struggled his rookie year and was also cut by the Bucs after just one season. However, he managed to turn things around with the Los Angeles Rams, becoming one of the league’s most accurate kickers and signing the biggest free agent contract for a kicker ever with the Indianapolis Colts.

Despite the lack of success in the draft, it is the cheapest option for the Bucs, who have five picks between rounds five and six. Ideally, the Bucs would simply sign a kicker as an undrafted free agent, freeing up their draft capital for more valuable positions, but that has not warded Licht off in the past.

Here are rookie kickers the Bucs could target in the draft and in free agency afterward:

LendingTree Bowl Prospect Preview: Eastern Michigan Eagles vs. Liberty Flames

LendingTree Bowl Prospect Preview: Eastern Michigan Eagles vs. Liberty Flames #ETOUGH #EXPLO21VE

Welcome to the first Saturday of bowl season and the college football Gods have graced us with six great contests. Personally I would have rather them space these bad boys out a little, but hey here we are.

The LendingTree Bowl pits the Eastern Michigan Eagles (7-5) of the MAC against the Liberty Flames (7-5), who are not affiliated with any conference. Despite the spread being slightly below double digits with Liberty favored, both teams are coming off of a loss and are hoping this win brings some positive off-season momentum.

Honestly though, we don’t care about that. We are going to dive into potential future Browns!