FOXBOROUGH — Many suspect rookie kicker Chad Ryland will unseat Nick Folk as the Patriots primary kicker. Faced with those expectations, Ryland has continued to stay level headed and take his time in training camp.
Ryland was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, going 112th overall. With the pick, he became the highest drafted kicker in the Bill Belichick era. Even though he’s fighting for the No. 1 position with Folk, Ryland hasn’t seen it as a battle. He’s seen it as an opportunity to learn from a veteran.
Ryland has even enjoyed getting advice from wide receiver Matthew Slater.
“All the veterans have been awesome to be around,” Ryland said. “You have guys like Matthew Slater, Folk, those guys careers have been phenomenal. Any nuggets of wisdom, anything I can get from them I’m always willing to take in.”
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Folk and Ryland each day have a schedule for who kicks on what specific day. Sunday was Ryland’s day where he made all but one of his field goal attempts. His miss sailed wide right of the post.
“We just go out there and compete and give our best each day,” Ryland said. “We go out there and make the most of our reps and we’re both trying to help the team the best we can.”
The Pats rookie played four years at Eastern Michigan before transferring to Maryland for his graduate year. He made 82.6% of his field goal attempts (19-23) and was 39-of-40 on extra point attempts.
In his five year college run, Ryland saw his experience as something that would give him a better chance to step on an NFL field. At Eastern Michigan, Ryland was a walk-on his freshman year and wound up as the Eagles starting kicker in his first year.
“Everything built on each other and it was stepping stones each part of the way,” Ryland said. “Not a single step was a graveyard, it was a learning experience every way.”
Ryland walked into Foxborough not putting the pressure on himself to make an immediate impact. He wanted to learn from players like Folk to be able to meet his own expectations.
“My expectation coming in was I’m going to learn and grow every day,” Ryland said. “If I learn and grow every day and keep stacking days hopefully I’ll be able to do what I want with my career.”
