Predicting outcome of Giants' kicking battle between Ben Sauls and Dominic Zvada

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Predicting outcome of Giants' kicking battle between Ben Sauls and Dominic Zvada

Travis Wakeman · The Sporting News

Sun, Aug 2, 2026 ·

3 min read

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Predicting outcome of Giants' kicking battle between Ben Sauls and Dominic Zvada originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

When the New York Giants take the field in 2026, several things are going to look different. Much of that will be because of the influence of new head coach John Harbaugh as he looks to pull this team from the depths of the NFC standings and back up to prominence.

There will be several key position battles in training camp this summer, but one of the more overlooked battles could come at the kicker position. The Giants had four different players attempt field goals and extra points last season and only one of them, Ben Sauls , is still with the team.

Harbaugh is going to want to get that fixed. After having Justin Tucker for many seasons while with the Baltimore Ravens , Harbaugh, a special teams guru by trade, is used to having one of the most consistent kicking games in the league. He won't settle for less than that in New York.

Undrafted free agent Dominic Zvada will join Sauls in training camp, and the two will go head-to-head to see who earns the job at the end of the summer.

Dominic Zvada vs. Ben Sauls for Giants' kicking job

Sauls didn't join the Giants until last November after spending time with both the Steelers and Falcons as an undrafted rookie out of Pittsburgh . The Giants elevated him to the main roster after having Graham Gano , Jude McAtamney and Younghoe Koo struggle during the season.

Sauls played in three games for the team and made three of his four field-goal attempts while knocking in all seven of the PATs he attempted. Still, he didn't do much, or have time to do much, in terms of earning the confidence of the team going forward.

Zvada began his college career at Arkansas State before transferring to Michigan ahead of the 2024 season. He was a bit more accurate at Arkansas State but still finished his college career making 82.8 percent of his field goals (72 of 87) and missing just two of 142 extra points.

He comes to the NFL with a stronger leg than Sauls, but Harbaugh and his staff want an accurate big leg. Can Zvada beat Sauls in that department?

These two kickers will be evaluated in every practice and every missed kick will turn up the pressure. They will each likely get similar opportunities in preseason games and the guy who is more accurate is going to win the job. The pressure is going to tilt more toward Sauls as he is the guy who is looking to defend the job he earned last season, even if he didn't have it very long. He also knows that Zvada has the stronger leg, so he is going to have to be dialed in. Each kick he misses is going to give Zvada a big advantage.

So, who wins it? Zvada should be considered the favorite to win the job, by a small margin. Sauls was a late-season addition to a team that had almost no chance to make the playoffs at that stage of the season, and decisions like those are made for a reason.

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The Giants are going to give him a chance because it's the right thing to do. In addition, competition usually brings out the best in players. That said, look for Zvada to be impressive this summer and win this job going away.

Dominic Zvada vs. Ben Sauls for Giants' kicking job

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