The official NFL bio of Aldrick Rosas is not very detailed.
In fact, under the categories marked “Recent games” and “career stats,” the identical sentence serves as all anyone needs to know about this mystery man: “This player does not have any statistics.”
No, this player does not have any statistics. Can this player actually maneuver his way through the summer and be the Giants’ kicker on opening day when they face the Cowboys Sept. 10 in Arlington, Texas?
“In a way I kind of look at it as an advantage,” Rosas said recently. “You see a guy out there, where did he come from or who is that guy? It kind of keeps me off a lot of talk.”
He has got a point. No one has much to say about Rosas, other than trying to figure out who he is, where he came from and how long the Giants will keep up what some consider a charade before they sign a kicker with some NFL experience. Well, maybe they will, maybe they won’t. Rosas all spring was the only kicker on the roster and nothing he did — or did not do — prompted the Giants to call for more seasoned reinforcements. It looks as if he will he will report July 27 as the only kicker in training camp.
Which means the job is his … until he falters even the slightest bit. With one call, a veteran such as unemployed Dan Carpenter (236 career NFL field goals) could be on the practice field wearing Giants colors.
And so, Rosas’ competition is unseen, but he is certainly aware it exists.
“My mentality is there’s no free spots in the NFL,” Rosas said. “I just come in here and try to do my job, focus on the things I can do. Upper management, I try to stay out of all that other stuff, all the transactions.”
This would be quite a leap of faith for the Giants, a team in win-now mode, a team usually reluctant to serve as a testing ground for young kickers. The last time they took a shot at a rookie kicker was back in 2002 with Matt Bryant. More recently, Lawrence Tynes gave way to Josh Brown, and when Brown last season was embroiled in a spousal abuse controversy and eventually released, longtime veteran Robbie Gould was signed.
Gould now is with the 49ers. Rosas was signed in January to a reserve/future contract.
Who the heck is he?
The first thing to notice about Rosas, 22, is he is bigger than most kickers, an athletic-looking 6-foot-2, 195-pound native of Orland, Calif. He played at Southern Oregon, an NAIA school. Rosas hit 116 consecutive extra points in college and 25 of 32 field goals, helping the Raiders win the 2014 national championship. Of his 115 kickoffs, 76 went for touchbacks.
Rosas tore the ACL in his kicking leg in his last college game, back in 2014.
Undrafted, he signed with the Titans last year, hit his only field-goal attempt in the preseason but was among the players sent packing in the final roster cut.
The Giants see a young guy with a big leg. They will do all they can to test him this summer.
“Yeah, training camp, we will do some things to put some pressure on him,’’ Ben McAdoo said. “We will build that into two-minute drills. We did that a little bit in the middle of OTAs, but we will crank that up in training camp and we will see how we do.’’
As far as dealing with pressure, Rosas says he had never faced any, so this is all new to him. The crowds he kicked in front of in college were in the 4,000 range, he said.
Punter Brad Wing has worked with Rosas for the past few months and is impressed with Rosas’ leg strength but, thinking along with the coaching staff, knows there is more to handling an NFL kicking job than possessing a strong leg.
“Pressure is a part of the game,’’ Wing said. “I was a little different, I played at LSU in front of very large crowds. It’s something we’ve spoken about. It’s all just mind games, try to mentally prepare yourself for it, and it’s tough to do when you’ve never been in that situation.’’
Rosas is taller than most kickers, and that length can lead to technique problems. Tom Quinn, the special teams coach, says he wants to “tighten’’ up Rosas’ kicking mechanics.
Rosas said his range is 60 yards, and he is looking forward to the tests yet to come.
“Every time I kick I want everybody looking at me, just simulate as much game-like situation,’’ Rosas said. “Just building confidence like that. I love it. I love the spotlight.”