The Tokyo Toe vs. Matt Gay
For the first time since 2018, there is uncertainty at kicker for the Raiders, what with Daniel Carlson, who took over kicking duties in Week 8 of that season, not re-signed. Instead, seven-year veteran Matt Gay, who kicked for new special teams coach Joe DeCamillis with the Rams in his 2021 Pro Bowl season and in 2022, should find himself in a battle as entertaining as it is intriguing after signing as a free agent.
Look, Raider Nation is as inclusive as it is global and Kansei Matsuzawa, who taught himself how to kick by watching YouTube videos after attending a Raiders game in Oakland in 2018, is as compelling a figure in camp as any other.
You think those MENDOZA jerseys are popular? Imagine jerseys with MATSUZAWA, or 松澤寛政, on the back flying off shelves in Hawaii, where he was a consensus All-American, and in Japan, his home country.
Thing is, Matsuzawa, signed as an undrafted rookie and working on another nickname to go with "The Tokyo Toe," is still learning the game.
"Matt's really helped 'Special K' quite a bit," DeCamillis said. "He's done a good job as far as getting him squared away with some of his technique and some of that, which is great for an older guy to be able to do, especially when you're competing for the job. But the competition's been good.
"Hopefully, we can get Matt back on the same plane that he was when I had him in LA, and I think 'Special K' is going to be really good too down the road. So, it should be a hell of a competition."
Gay, though, has missed 20 of 101 field-goal attempts over the last three seasons combined, and was just 15-of-31 (48.4%) from 50 yards and longer in that same time frame (the NFL success average from 50-plus yards was 69.1% in that time frame, 70.0% without Gay's stats).
Matsuzawa, meanwhile, made his first 25 field goals last season, en route to finishing 27-of-29, along with successfully converting all 40 point-after attempts, In fact, he was 72-72 in PAT's in two years at Hawaii.
Still, the Tokyo Toe, er, Special K attempted just two field-goals of at least 50 yards in two seasons for the Rainbow Warriors, going 1-of-2.
And in the NFL today, attempting 50-yarders are near as commonplace as PATs. So it was, ahem, intriguing, then, to see Matsuzawa boom a pair of 60-yarders in mandatory minicamp…with room to spare.
"It's going to be a heck of a story," DeCamillis said. "And, hopefully, he's able to compete with Matt and we pick the best guy."
See, intriguing.