New York Giants 2023 UFA Primer: P Jamie Gillan

Will the Giants bring back their punter from 2022 or go in another direction?

Jamie Gillan, P

Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 207 lbs.
Age: 25
NFL Exp.: 4 seasons
College: Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Punter Jamie Gillan is a promising young talent that formed quite a reputation in the league for his powerful leg. The Scotland native is known as the "Scottish Hammer," and when you see him punt, you’ll understand why.

After going undrafted in 2019, Gillan signed with the Cleveland Browns and had an impressive rookie campaign. This was first put on display during Week 2 against the Jets, where Gillan placed five of his six punts inside the 20-yard line, with just one punt returned for five yards.

In his first four games that season, Gillan had 11 of his 20 punt attempts land inside the 20-yard line and allowed just 19 return yards in the process. His remarkable play earned him the September Special Teams Player of the Month award. A week later, Gillan would complete the longest punt of his young career, booming one 71 yards downfield.

Despite his hot start as a rookie, Gillan’s numbers dipped over his next two seasons with the Browns. After placing 28 of his 63 punt attempts inside the 20 as a rookie, Gillan placed just 17 of his 51 attempts inside the 20 over the 2020 season and 16 of his 42 attempts in 2021. Gillan’s return percentage would soar from 31.7 to 49.0 from 2019 to 2020 before dipping slightly in 2021 (45.2).

In late December 2021, Gillan was waived by the Browns, only to be signed to the Buffalo Bills practice squad to finish the season. On February 7, 2022, Gillan signed with the New York Giants to replace Riley Dixon.

2022 Recap

Though Gillan’s punting form took quite the hit in 2020 and 2021, his first season with the Giants was transformative and saw him reach new heights. On a career-high 74 punts, Gillan averaged 46.8 yards and placed 29 of those inside the 20 (both career highs).

Despite Gillan’s resurgence, he did have his share of imperfections. Not only was one of his punts blocked last season, but Gillan also had a career-high nine touchbacks.

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GIANTS UFA PRIMERS: QB Daniel Jones | IOL Nick Gates | RB Saquon Barkley | C Jon Feliciano | IDL Justin Ellis | RB Matt Breida | LS Casey Kreiter | OLB Jihad Ward | Sterling Shepard | IDL Nicholas Williams | DB Tony Jefferson | S/ILB Landon Collins | WR Richie James

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Why Giants Should Keep Him

Gillan’s sheer leg power, proving to have lived up to his nickname on various occasions last season, is something one can't coach. Still, more importantly, he outdid himself in a big way last season, securing new career highs in the process of overcoming a two-year slump. Considering he’s only 25 years old, Gillan could very well be just hitting his stride.

Why Giants Shouldn’t Keep Him

Gillan might have a strong leg, but he also lacked consistency sometimes. When asked to pooch kick, he rarely showed any touch. And it seemed like for a stretch of games, he'd have at least one clunker in his performance per week.

For example, in Week 10 against the Houston Texans, Gillan shanked a punt badly, sending it only 14 yards to Houston’s 26-yard-line. The following week against the Detroit Lions, Gillan botched another punt, sending it 25 yards downfield to the Lions 32-yard line.

Three weeks later, against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 14, Gillan committed an illegal drop kick punt after the ball slipped from his hands, which led the Eagles to start on the Giants' 33-yard line as a result of the enforced 10-yard penalty.

Last season the Giants found themselves in several close games. The last thing they need are inconsistencies on special teams.

Keep or Dump?

The Giants should try to bring back their young punter (though with competition), as the only concern with Gillan is that we have yet to see him produce at this level in consecutive seasons.

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