Former Maryland football kicker Chad Ryland was selected by the New England Patriots with the No. 112 pick in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Patriots traded with the New York Jets to select Ryland.
Ryland was the second kicker taken and the third Terp to be drafted, behind Deonte Banks and Jakorian Bennett. Ryland became the first Maryland kicker taken in the common-draft era (since 1994).
The 6-foot, 190-pound Ryland transferred to Maryland from Eastern Michigan after four seasons as an Eagles. He was their career leader in PATs made (141) and ranked second in program history with 56 made field goals.
Ryland arrived in College Park and immediately made an impact, tying the Big Ten record for most consecutive made field goals (24). He racked up second team All-Big Ten honors by the end of the year, starting all 13 games for the Terps and setting the highest field goal percentage ever (82.6 percent) by a Terp kicker with over 20 attempts.
Ryland’s performance earned him an invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, where he connected on four field goals to help his team to a 27-10 victory. He then participated at the Maryland pro day, showing off his leg to representatives from 31 NFL teams.
“I’m very confident that I’m top 32 in the world at my craft,” Ryland said at the pro day on March 29. “It’s not an accident, the hard work that has gone into it for the last five, six years … it’s really already written, what’s meant to be is going to happen no matter what.”
The Pennsylvania native joins a Patriot offense with Nick Folk ahead of him on the depth chart, who scored the fifth-most field goals last season.
The Terps will turn to redshirt junior Harrison Beattie and redshirt sophomore Jack Howes to lead the kicking room with the departure of Ryland.
