EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — If he wasn’t already, undrafted free agent Dominic Zvada on Wednesday stamped himself as the clear favorite to win the placekicking competition against second-year kicker Ben Sauls.
Zvada ended Wednesday’s practice with a 62-yard gamep-winning field goal in a tie game, final play of the game situation. That capped a day where Zvada went 7 of 7, also making kicks of 53 and 50 yards. Sauls went 5 of 6, making 50 and 53-yarders, but missing from 45 yards.
“It was a great kick,
great snap,” said head coach John Harbaugh. “Nice to see. It was exciting. It’s fun.”
Zvada had made kicks from between 55 and 60 yards previously in camp, as had Sauls. This is the first time either kicker was good from beyond 60 yards.
“He does have a big leg, but the bottom line is you’ve got to kick it straight consistently,” Harbaugh said. So having a big leg is a big deal. Kicking it straight consistently is a bigger deal.
“I think both those guys have done that very well, and Ben has a very good leg too. I don’t want to imply that he doesn’t. Ben’s a very strong leg guy as well, but they’re both having really good camps.”
Let’s go through more winners and losers.
Winners
- The Jaxson Dart-Isaiah Likely connection — The second-year quarterback and his new tight end are forming an excellent connection. Likely caught several passes from Dart on Wednesday. In the end-of-game situation Harbaugh set up Wednesday to complete practice, it was clear Dart was looking for Likely whenever possible.
- Tremaine Edmunds — The massive inside linebacker dropped a potential pick 6 — a ball intended for Likely — when he jumped in front of the tight end on Dart’s first throw of practice. Two plays later, Edmunds batted down a pass from a scrambling Dart.
- Deonte Banks and Colton Hood — With Dru Phillips, Greg Newsome, and Paulson Adebo sidelined, Banks and Hood were the first-team cornerbacks. This represents a significant opportunity for both players. Banks was beaten deep by Malachi Fields, but he had good coverage and it took a leaping, one-handed grab. Hood batted away a deep pass from Jameis Winston intended for Dalen Cambre.
- Malachi Fields — Fields had a number of catches on Wednesday, including the long, one-handed grab at the goal line vs. Banks. Fields did lose a touchdown pass due to an offensive pass interference call, which explains why no defender was within five yards.
- Play a day Cambre — Dalen Cambre’s daily big play was a goal line touchdown catch from Winston on a quick out at the goal line.
- Bryan Hudson — I can’t really tell you how he is doing, but Hudson is getting first-team reps at center with John Michael Schmitz (concussion) and Lucas Patrick (knee) not practicing.
- Turbo Miller — He got a shout out on Wednesday from Harbaugh. “He’s explosive. He’s had catches. He caught one today long. He’s had runs where he’s shown acceleration,” Harbaugh said.
Losers
Ben Sauls — He’s not kicking poorly, but every miss makes it less and less likely he can win the competitions with Zvada.
Injury updates
- As previously mentioned, Phillips, Newsome, Adebo, Schmitz, and Patrick did not practice.
- Wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and Jalin Hyatt (ankle/knee) did not practice.
- Running back Tyrone Tracy had a light workload.
Saturday playing time
Harbaugh would not answer whether or not quarterback Jaxson Dart will play Saturday in the preseason opener against the Minnesota Vikings. He did say that wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will play.
“He’s in a good place,” Harbaugh said. “He will play and I’m looking forward to seeing him play.”
Schedule
The Giants will practice on Thursday, then have Friday off before playing on Saturday.
