5 things to know about kicker Chad Ryland, whom the Patriots selected in the 4th round
Ryland is an experienced kicker who had success kicking from deep in his college career.
The Patriots might have added their kicker of the future with one of their first picks on Day 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft.
New England selected Maryland kicker Chad Ryland in the fourth round with the No. 112 overall pick.
Here are five things to know about Ryland:
He’s the highest-drafted specialist in the Bill Belichick era.
We all know that Belichick values players that can play on special teams more than most. But even he has seldomly used picks prior to the fifth round on pure specialists.
Prior to Saturday, Stephen Gostkowski was the only special teams player selected prior to the fifth round by the Patriots since 2000. New England selected the then-Memphis kicker in the fourth round with the No. 118 overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.
If Ryland is able to have a similar career as the Patriots’ last fourth-round kicker, he’d enjoy a fair deal of success. Gostkowski is the Patriots’ all-time scoring leader with 1,775 points over his 14 seasons in New England.
Ryland is the highest the Patriots have selected a specialist since 2020. They drafted Marshall kicker Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth round of the draft that year. They also selected All-Pro punter Jake Bailey in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Other notable specialists the Patriots have drafted in the middle rounds of the draft include Matthew Slater and Zoltan Mesko, both of whom were both fifth-round picks in the year they were drafted.
He was a walk-on in college.
Ryland was a three-sport athlete (football, baseball, soccer) at Cedar Crest High School in Pennsylvania before accepting a walk-on offer at Eastern Michigan.
Despite his walk-on status, Ryland won the Eagles’ starting kicker job as a freshman. He was busy from the jump, but was solid. He made all 41 of his point-after attempts and was second in the MAC in field attempts with 20. He made 12 of his field goal attempts as a freshman.
He’s accurate from long-range and on PATs.
Ryland seems to have good potential as an NFL kicker.
After making all of his point-after attempts as a freshman, Ryland made 100 of his 104 point-after attempts in the following three seasons.
Eastern Michigan also called on Ryland to kick field goals of at least 50 yards a handful of times over his four years there. He made 6-of-9 50-plus-yard field goal attempts with a career-long of 55 yards.
After four solid seasons at Eastern Michigan, Ryland transferred to Maryland ahead of the 2022 season. He had another strong year in 2022, making 19-of-23 field goal attempts, including 3-of-6 field goal attempts of at least 50 yards. He also made 39-of-40 extra-point attempts.
Ryland impressed scouts with his big leg during the pre-draft process. After performing well at the Senior Bowl, Ryland showed off his leg at Maryland’s Pro Day in late March by making a 59-yard kick.
“Big-time leg,” Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy said of Ryland in a tweet. “He’ll be kicking on Sundays next fall. Teams that need one know.”
He’s prepared to kick in the cold.
Kicking in Foxborough isn’t easy.
Gillette Stadium can easily become a wind tunnel before the weather gets colder late in the season. Not to mention, a pair of the Patriots’ top division rivals also play in colder climates.
But Ryland isn’t a stranger to the cold. He grew up in Pennsylvania and played college ball in Michigan and Maryland while often facing teams with colder climates.
That’s why he feels prepared for whatever might come his way in New England.
“Cold weather, it’s obviously not the most ideal conditions to kick a football. Not a lot of people want to kick in that. But I do. I’m a cold-weather guy. I like the cold. I like the wind. For me, it’s that challenge of ‘bring it on.'”
He’s already close with another Patriots draft pick.
Just five picks after the Patriots selected Ryland, they added another former Eastern Michigan Eagle. They selected guard Sidy Sow, who played with Ryland for a few years at Eastern Michigan.
Ryland said Sow is “my guy” and FaceTimed him after both players were selected, adding, “I think there were a little bit of tears in both of our eyes.”
Sow reciporcated the love for Ryland.
“Chad is a stud,” Sow said. “He was one of the best kickers in the nation, and he’s going to be one of the best kickers in the NFL. That’s a fact.”
Sow also said he and Ryland are good Call of Duty buddies.
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