Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Steady in place of Prater in 2024
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Ryland netted 28 of 32 field-goal attempts and 26 of 27 point-after tries in 13 appearances during the 2024 season.
Ryland lost a job battle against Joey Slye at the end of August in New England, but he was called upon by Arizona in early October to step in for the injured Matt Prater (knee) and ended up kicking for the rest of the Cardinals' campaign. His performance was a far cry from that of his rookie season with the Patriots, when he went just 16-for-25 on FGAs (along with 24-for-25 on PATs) in 17 contests. Ryland's 8.5 points per game ranked tied for sixth among kickers to play in at least nine outings, and he's now the only kicker under contract for Arizona next season. Considering his overall success in 2024, he may not face any competition for the starting gig this offseason.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Retains kicking job for Week 17
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Ryland will remain Arizona's kicker for Saturday's game against the Rams with the Cardinals ruling Matt Prater (knee) out for the contest.
Prater took part in practices for the second week in a row after having his 21-day evaluation window opened Dec. 18, but since the 40-year-old has yet to upgrade to full participation, the Cardinals are opting to keep him on injured reserve for at least one more game. His continued absence sets the stage for Ryland to once again handle kicking duties for Arizona. Ryland is coming off a 12-point performance in the Week 16 loss to the Panthers that was highlighted by a game-tying 58-yard field goal that sent the game to overtime.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Sends game into overtime
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Ryland went 3-for-3 on field-goal attempts and made all three of his extra-point tries during the Cardinals' 36-30 overtime loss to the Panthers on Sunday.
Ryland once again served as the Cardinals' placekicker Sunday due to Matt Prater (knee) not being activated off injured reserve. Ryland's biggest kick came as time expired in the fourth quarter, when he nailed a 58-yard field-goal try to send the game into overtime and to temporarily keep Arizona's slim playoff hopes alive. In the five games since the Cardinals' Week 11 bye, Ryland has gone 14-for-17 on field-goal attempts and 8-for-8 on extra-point tries. It's unclear whether Ryland or Prater will handle kicking duties in the Cardinals' Week 17 game against the Rams on Saturday.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Perfect in win
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Ryland made all three of his field-goal tries and converted all three of his extra-point attempts during Sunday's 30-17 win versus the Patriots.
Ryland converted a 49-yard attempt on Arizona's first drive of Sunday's contest, and that seemed to help him find a rhythm after missing one field-goal attempt in each of his previous three games. He'll be looking to keep it going in Week 16 when the Cardinals travel to take on Carolina's porous defense.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Season-high point tally Sunday
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Ryland connected on five of six field-goal attempts and his sole point-after try during Sunday's 23-22 loss at Minnesota.
The Cardinals offense continually stalled in the red zone, affording Ryland successful FGAs from 32, 31, 24, 40 and 23 yards. His only miss, a 45-yard attempt early in the second quarter, ultimately ended up being the difference in the one-point defeat, but Sunday's 16-point outing marked his most productive of the campaign by a large margin (his previous high in a game was 10 points back in Week 5 at San Francisco). Matt Prater, Arizona's primary kicker, hasn't made any notable progress as he resides on injured reserve due to a left knee injury, so Ryland is lined up to continue in his current role next Sunday against the Seahawks.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Handles all the scoring
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Ryland made two of his three field-goal attempts in Sunday's 17-6 loss to the Seahawks.
Ryland was successful on 35 and 22-yard FGAs to account for all six points Arizona put on the board Sunday. However, the second-year pro did miss a 47-yard opportunity wide left with just seconds left in the game, which could have pulled the Cardinals within eight. With a Matt Prater (knee) return looming, it's possible this was Ryland's last week as the team's kicker.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Solid in runaway win
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Ryland converted his only field-goal try and made all four of his extra-point attempts during Sunday's 31-6 win versus the Jets.
Ryland's only field goal came from just 37 yards out as time expired in the first half, so nothing especially difficult was asked of him in Week 10. With that said, he now hasn't missed a kick since Week 5 and projects as a solid fantasy option for the home stretch of the season after the Cardinals' bye in Week 11.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Strikes true on all five kicks
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Ryland connected on both field-goal attempts and all three point-after tries during Sunday's 29-9 victory over the Bears.
With his successful 55-yard field goal in the fourth quarter Sunday, Ryland now has made 50-plus yarders in back-to-back games, and he's so far missed just one kick (a 45-yard FGA that was blocked and returned for a TD in Week 5 at San Francisco) in five games subbing in for the injured Matt Prater (knee). Prater must miss at least one more contest while on injured reserve, so Ryland again is poised to handle placekicking duties for the Cardinals this coming Sunday against the Jets.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Replaces injured Prater on roster
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The Cardinals signed Ryland off their practice squad Tuesday, Darren Urban of the team's official site reports.
Arizona had elevated Ryland from its practice squad the past two games as a replacement for Matt Prater (knee). Ryland knocked down both of his extra-point tries and five of six field-goal attempts in those contests, and he'll be Arizona's kicker for at least four more games after the team added him to the 53-man roster and moved Prater to injured reserve Tuesday.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Set for kicking duties again
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Ryland will be the Cardinals' kicker against the Packers on Sunday, Darren Urban of the team's official site reports.
With Matt Prater nursing a knee injury, Ryland was elevated from the practice squad Saturday. Prater was deemed inactive Sunday morning, so Ryland will handle kicking duties for a second straight week. Last week, Ryland went 3-for-4 on field-goal tries, with his lone miss coming on a blocked 45-yard attempt.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Makes four kicks in place of Prater
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Ryland connected on three of four field-goal attempts and his only point-after try during Sunday's 24-23 win at San Francisco.
Ryland was elevated from the Cardinals' practice squad Saturday to fill in for the injured Matt Prater (left knee) in Week 5, and the former fared well aside from having a 45-yard FGA blocked and returned for a touchdown in the second quarter. On Monday, Ryland reverted to the practice squad, per the NFL's transaction log, after which coach Jonathan Gannon told Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com that the team was taking a wait-and-see approach with Prater. Such comments indicate Ryland may be called upon for place-kicking duties again for Sunday's game in Green Bay if Prater doesn't make enough progress in his recovery.
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Cardinals' Chad Ryland: Elevated ahead of Week 5
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The Cardinals elevated Ryland from the practice squad to the active roster Saturday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Ryland was signed to the Cardinals' practice squad Tuesday to provide insurance in case Matt Prater (knee) is unable to play Sunday against the 49ers. Prater was able to practice Friday as a limited participant, but if his knee injury prevents him from suiting up Sunday, Ryland will serve as the Cardinals' kicker. Ryland went 16-for-25 on field-goal attempts and connected on 24 of 25 extra-point tries with the Patriots in 2023.
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Chad Ryland: Joins Cardinals' practice squad
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The Cardinals signed Ryland to their practice squad Wednesday.
The 2023 fourth-round pick spent his rookie campaign with the Patriots before being waived in late August. Ryland converted on just 16 of his 25 field-goal attempts but missed only one of his 25 point-after tries in 2023. He could be elevated to Arizona's active roster if Matt Prater deals with injury at any point this season.
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Patriots' Chad Ryland: Set to compete with veteran kicker
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Ryland is slated to face competition from veteran kicker Joey Slye, who is in line to sign with the Patriots, Mark Daniels of masslive.com reports.
A fourth-round pick of the Patriots in the 2023 NFL Draft, Ryland is coming off a rookie campaign in which he made just 64 percent of his field-goal attempts (16 of 25). Though the Maryland product has a strong kicking leg, he'll need to display better accuracy in the coming months in order to hold off the challenge presented by the 28-year-old Slye, who connected on 79.2 percent of his field-goal tries with the Commanders last season.
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Patriots' Chad Ryland: Misses another kick Sunday
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Ryland converted one of his two field-goal attempts and both of his extra-point tries in Sunday's 27-17 loss versus the Chiefs.
Ryland has now missed three of his last six field-goal tries, and the 41-yarder he hooked to the left in Week 15 was not particularly close. The rookie's struggles thus far combined with the Patriots' offense's lack of juice make him a less-than-appealing option at kicker for the rest of the fantasy playoffs.
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Patriots' Chad Ryland: Three points Thursday
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Ryland made all three of his extra-point tries in Thursday's 21-18 win over the Steelers.
For the second game in a row, Ryland didn't record any field-goal attempts; however, this time around the Patriots offense showed signs of life (after being shut out Week 13), which resulted in the kicker's only opportunities Thursday arriving on extra points. Ryland is still not a high-percentage fantasy option ahead of New England's Dec. 17 contest against the Chiefs, but the 2023 fourth-rounder has at least maintained his weekly role despite his accuracy issues (12 of 18 on FG tries) through 13 games this season.
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Patriots' Chad Ryland: Posts 11 points in Week 7
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Ryland made all three of his field-goal attempts in Sunday's 29-25 win over the Bills en route to recording a season-high 11 points.
Ryland now has 33 points over his first seven games as a pro, and his fantasy upside going forward hinges on how the Patriots' offense (which has been inconsistent this season) moves the ball in the coming weeks. Next up for the team is a Week 8 divisional matchup against the Dolphins.
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Patriots' Chad Ryland: Makes lone FG attempt Sunday
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Ryland made his only field-goal attempt (from 43 yards) in Sunday's 21-17 loss to the Raiders.
Ryland also made both of his extra-point tries Sunday, and through six contests to date, the rookie kicker has compiled a total of 22 points. Until the 1-5 Patriots pick up the pace on offense, Ryland will profile as a low-end fantasy option.
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Patriots' Chad Ryland: Misses lone attempt Sunday
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Ryland missed his only field-goal attempt in Sunday's 34-0 loss to the Saints.
Following his miss from 48-yards Sunday, Ryland is now 4-of-8 on field-goal attempts through his first five NFL games. Though the 2023 fourth-rounder isn't in danger of losing his job as the Patriots kicker, he'll profile as a low-percentage fantasy option until both his accuracy and the team's offense show signs of improvement.
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Patriots' Chad Ryland: Five points in Week 2
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Ryland made his only field-goal attempt (from 49 yards) in Sunday's 24-17 loss to the Dolphins.
Ryland also made both of his extra-point tries Sunday and now has a total of seven points through his first two games as a pro. As the season progresses there will be weeks where the 2023 fourth-rounder has more scoring opportunities, but for now Ryland is a speculative fantasy option.
