A proven grizzled veteran versus a trailblazing Japanese-born undrafted rookie.
That’s the high-level tale of the tape between Matt Gay and Kansei Matsuzawa, the two engaged in a kicker competition for the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason and the fight for place kicker duties and a roster spot is slated to heat up in the desert heat as training camp proceeds and preseason tilts are on tap starting next week.
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While plenty of attention is on head coach Klint Kubiak and his offense and defensive coordinator Rob Leonard and his defense, special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis has quite the task himself. The competition for the starting kicker gig is chief among them, then there’s the oft-forgotten long snapper spot, and return duties, on top of that.
But let’s focus on place kicker. It’s a topic I explored in early May, highlighting why the battle is an important one.
“Yes, I would,” DeCamillis answered when asked if Matsuzawa is pushing Gay. “Yeah, I mean I think it’s a legitimate competition.”
Gay has the edge in terms of familiarity and NFL experience. The 32-year-old Utah product is in his eighth season in the league and was DeCamillis’ kicker for the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 and 2022 — the two best years in Gay’s career where Utah native sported 94.1 and 93.3 field goal percentages missing just four field goals in that two year span. Raiders general manager John Spytek knows a bit about the 6-foot and 232 pound kicker as he served as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ director of player personnel during the 2019 offseason when the team drafted Gay in the fifth round (145th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft. Gay lasted just that one season in Tampa before landing in Los Angeles.
Matsuzawa, meanwhile, has one of the dopest monikers in the league: “Tokyo Toe”. He’s an older undrafted free agent at 27 years old and had a stellar 2025 season at Hawaii with a 93.1 field goal percentage going 27-of-29 on his boots for the Rainbow Warriors. He finished his two-year stint at the University of Hawaii setting a school record 86.7 field goal percentage, breaking the mark held by old-school Raiders nemesis Jason Elam. A self-taught kicker via YouTube, Matsuzawa’s interest in the NFL began when sitting inside the coliseum in Oakland to watch the 2018 matchup between the Raiders and Rams.
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Distinct Differences
As mentioned above, Gay is the seasoned vet with 102 regular season games and six playoff tilts so he’s accustomed to the high-pressure situations shouldered upon NFL kickers. In those six postseason games, Gay was 12-of-14 on field goals and 15-for-15 on extra points. Most of that came from the Rams’ 2021 Super Bowl run which harkens back to Gay having his best performances with a creative play caller in Rams head coach Sean McVay running an offense and a quality special teams boss in DeCamillis.
“Yeah, he’s been hitting the ball really well. Today, obviously we had a two-minute, it was a longer field goal. One of my biggest things that I like to say is, ‘Closer is better.’ We had a lot of penalties in that two-minute period and backed him up, and we didn’t hit the ball we needed to hit right there,” DeCamillis said after one of the Raiders training camp practice sessions when asked how Gay has grown since their Las Vegas reunion. “So, we’d like to get that one over. But other than that, I mean he’s had a great offseason, a great camp so far. We’ve just got to keep him in the right groove and hopefully get him back to where he was when I had him in LA.”
After a the 2022 season, Gay ended up with the Indianapolis Colts for the 2023 and 2024 seasons and spent last season between the Washington Commanders and San Francisco 49ers. The magic he once had with DeCamillis waned severely as his accuracy waned to 80.5, 83.8, 73.9, 68.4 percent before hitting all four field goal attempts with the Niners. Once known for a powerful and accurate leg (a career-long of 59 yards in 2022), Gay’s scattershot ways — he’s 48.3 percent from distances of 50-plus yards the last three seasons — must change quick if he’s going to be the one who replaces former Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson (who also experienced a sharp decline in accuracy).
Then, there’s the Tokyo Toe.
Before a sharp 2025 senior year at Hawaii, Matsuzawa went 12-of-16 in 2024. Thus his final season in college showed marked improvement. The 6-foot-2 and 200-pound kicker is an accurate specialist accustomed to volume and pressure situations as he set a school record with 27 consecutive field goals made in 2025.
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From short to medium range, Matsuzawa was dialed in drilling the ball through the goal posts consistently. Where’s he’s unproven, unlike Gay, is long-range ability. Hawaii didn’t attempt many field goals with the Tokyo Toe — Matsuzawa only attempted two kicks from 50 yards or more in his two seasons with the Rainbow Warriors. He made one of them: A 52-yarder against Fresno State.
To capture the starting job, Gay and Matsuzawa must showcase who the most accurate, consistent, and can bang the ball through the uprights from long distance during practices and preseason games. Gay has an early lead but Matsuzawa isn’t trailing far behind.
Despite the competition, both kickers are helping one another and Gay himself says Matsuzawa is “awesome” and being farther ahead as a rookie than he was back in 2019.
“We get along really, really nice. He’s definitely hit the ball really well, so obviously, yeah, pushes me to keep hitting the ball well,” Gay said. “Can’t take days off and things like that. He’s awesome. I like Kansei a lot.”
Who I Think Wins
I believe my draft profile on Matsuzawa back in early April is a giveaway.
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A younger ascending option that showcased determination, accuracy and consistency to go from self taught, to Hawaii’s kicker and setting school records, and landing on an 90-man roster for an NFL team, Matsuzawa doesn’t seem the type to let this incredible opportunity slip between his fingers.
With both Gay and Matsuzawa showcasing consistency and trading missed attempts during practices, the Tokyo Toe displaying in preseason games what he did for Hawaii will go a long way to separating himself from the veteran. Matsuzawa’s accuracy will also be an asset on kickoffs as he has the directional and touch skillsets that are now more apt than pure power with the league’s changed rules.
If Matsuzawa is unable to claim the job, there’s still potential to make the Raiders roster as a practice squad exemption member due qualifying for the NFL’s International Player Pathway program member being born in Japan. Sort of like a stash and develop situation that Laki Tasi was in before Las Vegas waived him.
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“To get a roster spot for Kansei, he’s in the competition, so he’s got to do a great job there. But the great thing about his situation is, in the international part of it, there might be an extra spot for him, depending upon how it is,” DeCamillis said. “So, hopefully he can show enough, which knock on wood. I hope he keeps showing what he’s showing right now, and hopefully, we get a chance to keep him at the end of camp which would be great.”
