Tag: Ryan Santoso

Panthers Preseason: Winners and losers in the 2021 finale vs. Steelers

Panthers CB Jaycee Horn wasn’t kidding about the seatbelt stuff, was he?

Finding last week’s winners amongst the Carolina Panthers after a listless 20-3 loss wasn’t exactly the most apt exercise to partake in. But fast-forward just six days later and, oh, how the turn tables.

Carolina bounced back from their downer of a performance against the Baltimore Ravens and smashed the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday night, 34-9. Albeit a smashing of their backups, it was a smashing nonetheless.

So let’s try to sort out the winners and losers, if we can find any of those, from the Panthers’ 2021 preseason finale.

Winner: Joe Brady

We could put quarterback Sam Darnold here, but he’s already won the starting job. So there’s nothing for him to win at the moment.

Instead, we’ll go with Brady. The second-year offensive coordinator recently waxed poetic about the chemistry between himself and Darnold, saying he “has something” in his new vessel. Well, it looks like he did on Friday night, as Darnold’s sizzling arm strength and developing decision-making made for a nice fit in Brady’s play-calling.

Winner: Jaycee Horn

The 2021 eighth overall pick is, so far, as advertised. He was one of the standout performers in another exciting outing from the defense, clicking in that seatbelt on receivers that came his way.

Loser: Panthers secondary as a whole

Even though the team has made significant strides in improving their personnel at cornerback, they still aren’t very deep there. Rashaan Melvin went down with a groin injury in this one and did not return.

If Melvin isn’t back for Week 1, that’ll add to the list that already includes a suspended A.J. Bouye and a lost-for-the-seaosn Troy Pride Jr.

Winner: Ryan Santoso

Santoso did all he could to kick his competition off the spot. He successfully booted through each of his five kicks, including field goals of 52 and 27 yards.

His job still isn’t assured, however, as the Panthers can regain the seventh-round pick they sent to the New York Giants for Santoso if they don’t play him in more than two games.

Loser: Joey Slye

The aforementioned competition, Slye, is probably on the outs now. He missed his lone field goal attempt, a 49-yard try, right after Santoso’s 52-yarder.

He’s struggled through most of the summer and hasn’t been able to break out of his funk despite the constant support from the team.

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Panthers HC Matt Rhule not ready to decide on kicker, No. 2 QB battles

Panthers HC Matt Rhule isn’t ready to decide on some key battles just yet, but was largely happy with what he saw on Friday night.

Never ask a coach if he’s ready to make a decision five minutes after the game. You’ll always get the same answer.

Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule gave that answer, which was very much a non-answer, when posed with questions about the most heated position battles on his roster. But, obviously, he and his staff are not ready to determine who kicks and who backs up quarterback Sam Darnold just yet.

“I’m not sure of the timetable, and that’s honestly,” Rhule said when asked if he knows when he’ll make a determination on the kicker spot. “We brought Ryan [Santoso] in knowing that ‘Hey, we have a couple days until the cuts’ to make a decision about him. I’ll go with Scott [Fitterer] probably tomorrow morning, we’ll see where we are at every position and take the next couple days to be thorough in our decisions.”

He did, though, offer some insight into competition between Santoso and Joey Slye.

“We went into it with ‘Hey, we’re gonna let Ryan kick off and kick the first one,’ let Joey, depending on where it was, kick the second one and then let Ryan kick the most of the night,” Rhule said about his strategy. “I wanted to see at least each of them kick once.”

Santoso and Slye kicked more than once, actually, with the new guy besting the incumbent. The former nailed each of his five kicks, with two field goals of 52 and 27 yards, while the latter went 1-for-2 total with a missed 49-yarder.

Rhule also commented on the backup quarterback race between P.J. Walker and Will Grier. Like the kicker fight, he’s not prepared to announce a choice. He is, though, content with the results from their respective outings.

“I thought P.J. was really good when he was in there. He made the big throw to Tommy [Tremble], he made the big throw on the sideline to David [Moore], made the over route to Shi [Smith]. I think he put a lot of balls in guys’ hands.”

He then shifted to Grier.

“I thought Will was excellent as well. Will made some plays with his feet. I’m really happy to see that from Will. He went out and had a lot of the guys who were 2’s and 3’s with him and still found a way to move the team. And, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about. Moving the team.”

Walker bounced back from a rough showing against the Baltimore Ravens last Saturday, completing five of his 10 throws for 83 yards. Grier was solid as well, completing five of his seven attempts for 47 yards and rushing in a slick 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

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4 takeaways from the Panthers’ 34-9 win vs. Steelers

Is . . . is Sam Darnold about to be resurrected by Matt Rhule, Joe Brady and the Carolina Panthers?

Carolina Panthers fans came for quarterback Sam Darnold in the team’s preseason finale on Friday night. And, boy, did they get him.

Darnold was impressive, and we’ll obviously get to that here. But there were also three more notable takeaways from the 34-9 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers.

Here they are.

Panthers highlights: K Ryan Santoso good from 52 yards on first attempt

New Panthers K Ryan Santoso passed his first test of the night.

The Carolina Panthers impromptu kicking competition is officially underway, and it’s 1-0 in favor of the new guy.

Ryan Santoso got the first crack at position on Friday night against the Steelers, starting off the game by launching a touchback through the back of the end zone. In his second test, the 6-foot-5, 260-pounder was successful (with a little help from the right upright) on a long 52-yard field goal.

Incumbent Joey Slye got the next chance, as he took over on kickoff duties following the Santoso field goal. He then missed his first field goal try, from 49 yards out.

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4 Panthers to watch in preseason Week 3 vs. Steelers

Panthers QB Sam Darnold will be out on the field for more than one series tonight against the Steelers. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing, we shall soon see.

If this was just any old preseason finale, most of you would be looking forward to getting it out of the way and moving on to games that actually count. But, in 2021, this isn’t any old preseason finale.

The Carolina Panthers will close out exhibition on Friday night when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers. And, in contrast to past summer closeout games, this one will feature the team’s top players.

So, here are four of them to keep an eye on.

Panthers acquire K Ryan Santoso from Giants

The Panthers’ kicking competition has now become a triple threat match with the trade for Ryan Santoso.

After what’s gone down in the sudden Carolina Panthers’ kicking competition over the previous two days, we thought we had a heated one-on-one battle on our hands. Now, it’s a triple threat!

The Panthers announced the acquisition of kicker Ryan Santoso on Thursday afternoon. This trade, one that’ll send back a conditional 2022 seventh-round pick to the New York Giants, comes less than 48 hours following the signing of the German-born boot Dominik Eberle.

Santoso, a big boy of a kicker at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, cracked into the league out of the University of Minnesota with the Detroit Lions back in 2018. He’d also go on to brief stints with the Tennessee Titans and the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes before joining the Giants.

New York did like the work Santoso put in for them during his time there, most recently having converted on an extra point attempt and bombing three touchbacks in three tries in this past week’s preseason contest. But, with (old friend) Graham Gano having clamps on the kicking job, there was no room for the 26-year-old.

He now joins Eberle and Joey Slye, the struggling incumbent, in what’s quickly become the Great Carolina Foot Fight of 2021.

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Giants trade kicker Ryan Santoso to Panthers

The New York Giants have traded kicker Ryan Santoso to the Carolina Panthers.

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The New York Giants had been fielding calls for kicker Ryan Santoso this week, which was all part of their master plan.

Because of the presence of kicker Graham Gano and punter Riley Dixon, Santoso was never going to crack the 53-man roster. As a result, the Giants wanted to net something for him as opposed to releasing him outright.

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“He can do whatever. Ryan can punt, kick — I’m serious, he’s very talented and he’s punted in NFL games before, he’s kicked off, he can kick field goals, so Ryan is a very talented young man,” special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said last week. “Ryan has great upside, he’s a good man, he works his tail off. That’s what this league is all about, it’s about competition and hopefully Ryan can do enough where he can get a job, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”

Trader Dave Gettleman made that happen.

The Giants have sent Santoso to Gettleman’s former team, the Carolina Panthers, in exchange for a seventh-round conditional pick in the 2022 NFL draft. But the deal does come with an asterisk.

Santoso must appear in two regular-season games for the Panthers in order for the pick to make its way to East Rutherford.

The 6-foot-5, 258-pound Santoso entered the league as an undrafted rookie out of Minnesota in 2018. He has spent time with the Detroit Lions and Tennessee Titans, as well as the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL (two stints).

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Report: Giants kicker Ryan Santoso generating ‘significant trade interest’

New York Giants kicker/punter Ryan Santoso is reportedly generating trade interest around the league and could be dealt in the coming weeks.

The New York Giants will enter the 2021 regular season with Graham Gano as their kicker and Riley Dixon as their punter. That means the odd man out is the versatile Ryan Santoso.

Santoso, who is built like a linebacker at 6-foot-5 and 258 pounds, is a bit of a hidden gem. He can both punt and kick, and has a range in excess of 60 yards. In fact, he’s connected on several field goals from over 65 yards out during training camp.

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“He can do whatever. Ryan can punt, kick — I’m serious, he’s very talented and he’s punted in NFL games before, he’s kicked off, he can kick field goals, so Ryan is a very talented young man,” special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said last week. “Ryan has great upside, he’s a good man, he works his tail off. That’s what this league is all about, it’s about competition and hopefully Ryan can do enough where he can get a job, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”

Barring injury, Santoso will not win either starting job for the Giants. They know that and they’ve actively worked to get him looks in an effort to not only boost his value, but help ensure he lands a starting job somewhere.

Mission accomplished?

Although nothing has materialized just yet, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Santoso is generating trade interest from around the league and could be dealt prior to final cuts later this month.

Getting anything for a backup kicker would be a coup for the Giants and would also help fill the gap created by their trade for cornerback Keion Crossen. In that deal, the Giants sent a 2023 sixth-round draft pick to the Houston Texans.

Giants coordinator corner: Kadarius Toney falling behind

The three New York Giants coordinators met with the media on Tuesday and one thing became clear: Kadarius Toney is falling behind.

On a day where the co-owner, John Mara and general manger Dave Gettleman addressed the media, the New York Giants also wheeled out the majority of their coaching staff to answer questions as well.

Their three coordinators were front and center to give their updates on the offense, defense and special teams.

Giants practice squad protections: Niko Lalos, two others

The New York Giants have protected three practice squad players including new fan favorite, DE Niko Lalos.

The New York Giants have announced the protections of three practice squad players ahead of their Week 13 game against the Seattle Seahawks, including new fan favorite, defensive lineman Niko Lalos.

Lalos originally signed with the Giants back in April as an undrafted rookie out of Dartmouth. He was released as a part of final cuts in September and signed to the team’s practice squad a day later.

Through 11 weeks of the season, Lalos quietly remained on the practice squad before being elevated to the active roster last week. He took his first eight NFL snaps against the Cincinnati Bengals and hauled in an incredibly impressive and game-changing interception.

Prior to the game, Lalos received a shout-out from LeBron James and later drew wide praise from his coaches and teammates.

In addition to Lalos, the Giants also protected quarterback Clayton Thorson and long snapper Carson Tinker.

The Giants signed Thorson on September 29 and have protected him three other times this season so far. And with Daniel Jones hampered by a hamstring injury and only one other quarterback on the roster to date, his protection makes sense.

Tinker was also signed in early September and waived as a part of final cuts before being added to the practice squad.

Update: After re-signing to the practice squad, the Giants also protected kicker/punter Ryan Santoso.

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