New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: K Jude McAtamney

How the strong-legged McAtamney can help the Giants with he new kickoff rule.

Sep 24, 2022; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights place kicker Jude McAtamney (93) kicks a field goal as punter Adam Korsak (94) holds during the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at SHI Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

New York Giants rookie kicker Jude McAtamney is in a rare position in that he can help the Giants without helping the Giants.

Let me explain what I mean by that. McAtamney, for whom the Giants have an international roster exemption thanks to his Irish-born roots, isn’t going to make this roster to where he can line up to nail a late-game field goal—that job belongs to veteran Graham Gano, who should be good to go following season-ending knee surgery.

But McAtamney can help the Giants in a couple of other ways. The first and most obvious is he can take some of the onus off Gano in the meaningless preseason games, allowing the veteran kicker to continue his modified workload in the latter stages of his recovery.

McAtamney, a kickoff specialist in his second and final season at Rutgers, can also help special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial figure out how to address kickoff return coverage.

By that, I mean teams ordinarily don’t want their kicker to be chasing down returners to make tackles. And in this case, with Gan returning from knee surgery, we’re pretty sure it’s safe to say the Giants would prefer to limit his exposure.

So we anticipate the job will fall to Ghobrial, who can then use the observations to determine how to scheme around Gano, one of the team's most valuable players, or whether it makes sense to consider cross-training another player to potentially handle kickoffs down the line, as some other teams have reportedly been doing.

However this works out, the summer will be a good opportunity for McAtamney to put together some quality NFL film for his future football career aspirations.

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JUDE MCATAMENY, K

Height: 6-2  
Weight:  205 lbs.
Exp.: R 
School: Rutgers
How Acquired: UDFA-24 

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2023 in Review

McAtamney, an Ulster Under-20 Gaelic football champion with Derry in 2018, is a native of County Londonderry in Northern Ireland who spent his last two seasons at Rutgers University. During the Scarlet Knights' 2022 season, the 6-2, 205-pound McAtamney played in all 12 games, finishing 12-for-18 on field goals, with five of his attempts coming at 40+ yards (including a long of 49 made twice). He also finished as the team's scoring leader with 59 points.

Last season, McAtamney was more of the school's kickoff specialist. In 13 games, he set a Rutgers school record with 40 touchbacks on 60 kickoffs, with zero going out of bounds. McAtamney earned Academic All-Big Ten honors. 

After having a strong pro day where he went 17-of-20, McAtamney impressed enough to earn an invitation to the Giants pro day, where he went 10-of-10. New York liked what they saw, and with Graham Gano still recovering from knee surgery, they’re giving the Irish-born McAtamney a chance to put together some NFL film.

• Miss a 2024 Giants Training Camp profile? We've got them all archived for you here.

Contract/Cap Info

McAtamney has signed a one-year contract worth $2.832 million which includes a $2,500 signing bonus. His 2024 cap number is $795,833, which includes $7,500in guaranteed salary.

2024 Preview

The Giants received an exemption for McAtamney due to his international status, so he’s likely to sit on the practice squad this season developing his craft.

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