New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn has only been on the job for a couple of months.
In that very short amount of time, he has developed a reputation on social media for hating older players. That was sparked by some of his roster decision-making, like moving on from placekicker Greg Zuerlein and punter Thomas Morstead.
Zuerlein, 37, and Morstead, 39, were two of the elder statesmen on the squad. In fairness, Zuerlein was coming off the worst year of his career, converting only 60% of his field goal attempts. Morstead was considered a team leader and someone the players looked to during troubling times.
After having two of the older players in the NFL, the Jets have made a freaky Friday switch to two of the youngest players in the league at punter and kicker.
According to the Jets’ official roster sheet, they only have three players on the roster heading into training camp who are 30 years of age or older.
Those players are quarterback Tyrod Taylor (35), longsnapper Thomas Hennessy (31), and wide receiver Josh Reynolds (30).
Jets Have a Ton of Inexperience on Special Teams From the Top to the Bottom
The green and white have two placekickers and two punters on the 91-man roster.
Harrison Mevis, 23, is a second-year player who got an opportunity with the Carolina Panthers last offseason, but didn’t crack the 53-man roster. Instead, he joined the UFL and had a dominant season, which provided a second chance to prove himself at the NFL level, signing with the Jets this offseason.
Caden Davis, 24, joined the Jets this offseason after going undrafted out of Ole Miss.
“Davis scored 228 points at Ole Miss, converting on 80.8% (42-of-52) of his field goal attempts and 98.1% (102-of-104) of his PATs. He hit on 13-of-16 from 40-49 yards and 4-of-8 from 50-plus. Starting his collegiate career at Texas A&M, Davis handled kickoff duties in College Station over 33 games,” the press release stated.
Jets Punt on Punters
At punter, it’s basically the same story for the Jets.
Austin McNamara, 24, went undrafted in 2024. He got a chance with the Cincinnati Bengals last offseason, but he didn’t make the team and sat out of football. Now he has a second chance with the Jets.
Kai Kroeger, 23, went undrafted in April. He signed with the Jets and has a chance to win the starting punter job this offseason.
“Kroeger (6-3, 213) played the last five seasons at South Carolina and averaged 44.6 yards per punt, the second most in school history. His 265 career punts are a school record and the fifth most in SEC history. He led the SEC with 62 punts in the 2023 season and his 2,675 yards in the ’22 season led the conference when he earned first-team All-America honors. Kroeger’s 47.8 yards per punt last season were a career high and he earned first-team All-SEC honors and won the Gamecock’s Jim Carlen Award, given to the MVP on special teams,” the press release stated.
Insider Gives Blunt Truth About Jets Special Teams Unit
ESPN’s Rich Cimini told Jake Asman that the Week 1 punter and kicker for the Jets might not even be on the roster.
“We don’t talk about that much because special teams doesn’t get that much coverage, but yeah, that’s a major issue. They signed Harrison Mevis, The Thiccer Kicker, which I think is one of the great nicknames in college football when he was playing there at Missouri. He had a great year in the XFL, but I mean, none of these guys have kicked in the NFL. I mean the two punters on the roster, the two kickers on the roster, so this is a total crapshoot,” Cimini said on “The Jake Asman Show.”
“What could go wrong? They could easily have a new punter and a new kicker on the roster by opening day. Those are interchangeable, and so absolutely I could see that happening [players who aren’t currently on the roster being the starters in Week 1]. I don’t know if this has ever happened before. I should have our research department look it up. To have a kicker and a punter with absolutely no experience, it might be unprecedented, I’m not sure. Chris Banjo, the Jets special teams coordinator, is a really impressive guy, the way he commands a room and the way we spoke to him at some press conferences. He could be playing, actually. He is young enough to still be playing in the league,” Cimini said.
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