Continuing their youth movement under Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey, the New York Jets released 39-year-old punter Thomas Morstead on Tuesday.
In a corresponding roster move, the Jets signed undrafted free agent punter Kai Kroeger.
The New York roster now includes two punters, each of whom has yet to play an NFL game: Kroeger and 2024 undrafted free agent Austin McNamara.
More moves could come in the future, but as things stand, Kroeger (22) and McNamara (24) are poised to compete for the Jets’ punting job.
Could either one of these players be a viable candidate for the Jets’ punting job?
Let’s dive into their profiles.
Kai Kroeger
Kroeger was a three-star recruit out of Lake Forest, Illinois. According to 247Sports, he was the nation’s No. 3 punter recruit in the 2020 class.
Kroeger won South Carolina’s punting job in his freshman season and held it down across five seasons. He was named first-team All-SEC in 2022 and 2024, along with first-team All-American in 2022 and second-team All-American in 2024.
Statistically speaking, the 2024 season was Kroeger’s best. He set career-highs in yards per punt (47.8) and net yards per punt (43.8), ranking fourth and sixth, respectively, among 126 qualified FBS punters (30+ attempts).
Possessing some quarterback experience from high school, Kroeger offers a unique track record of passing success on fakes. In his career, Kroeger completed 7-of-10 pass attempts for 205 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
Kroeger also executed this impressive drop-kick onside kick to facilitate a recovery for his team in 2024.
The biggest concern in Kroeger’s game is his lack of hang time. Kroeger averaged just 3.81 seconds of hang time at South Carolina. For reference, the 2024 NFL average was 4.35.
Kroeger averaged a career-high 3.95 seconds of hang time in 2024. While this was solid for a college punter (31st of 126), no qualified NFL punter averaged under 4.1 seconds of hang time in the 2024 season.
The Jets will want to see Kroeger prove that he can keep the ball in the air and buy time for his teammates to get downfield. The good news is that Kroeger flashed potential in this area at the Shrine Bowl. I clocked this 56-yard boot at a 4.87.
If Kroeger can improve his hang time, he has the skill set to be an NFL starter. His unique throwing skills are a nice bonus.
Austin McNamara
Like Kroeger, Austin McNamara was the nation’s No. 3 punting recruit in his class (2019). He hails from Highland High School in Gilbert, Arizona, which also produced Jets icon Ryan Fitzpatrick.
McNamara immediately took over Texas A&M’s punting job and held onto it for five seasons. He was named first-team All-Big 12 three times and second-team All-Big 12 once.
In 2023, his final college season, McNamara was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year. He averaged 46.4 yards per punt and 42.2 net yards per punt, which ranked 11th and 13th, respectively, among 127 FBS qualifiers (30+ attempts). Despite attempting the 49th-most punts (55), McNamara ranked 13th in punts landed inside the 20 (26) and 10th in fair catches forced (27).
McNamara’s hang time is much more NFL-ready than Kroeger’s. He had a career average hang time of 4.2, eclipsing the 4.0 mark in all five of his seasons. In 2023, McNamara ranked third in the country with a career-high of 4.25.
McNamara went undrafted in 2024 and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was waived on August 7 before getting the chance to appear in a preseason game, and he remained unsigned throughout the season. McNamara was competing against another undrafted rookie, Ryan Rehkow, and it seems that Cincinnati had seen enough before either player took the field in the preseason.
New York signed McNamara on March 14.
It is concerning that McNamara was waived so early by the Bengals, and that no team bothered to sign him throughout the season. He likely made a poor impression on the practice field.
However, McNamara came into the NFL with an impressive resume. There is still a chance he could become a solid NFL starter. His ability to generate hang time and force fair catches should translate well to the professional level. He was ahead of Kroeger in these areas during their respective college careers.
Is it enough?
While the Jets might be able to find more reliable options on the veteran free agent market, it would not be a bad idea to roll with Kroeger and McNamara as their punting competitors. They each offer impressive resumes of production in college.
Unlike any other position in the sport (besides kicker and long snapper), a punter’s college production should translate smoothly to the NFL. Kicking a ball with an NFL shield on your jersey is no different than kicking it with an SEC emblem. Despite their undrafted pedigrees, Kroeger and McNamara both have a decent chance of becoming quality starters in the pros. They are not shabby options.
Targeting a young punter is appealing because of the opportunity to solidify the spot for the next decade-plus. Picking up a veteran may offer a better chance of short-term success, but it carries long-term risk due to the lack of longevity. It would make sense if the Jets, who have aimed to get younger across the entire roster this offseason, wanted to try to erase this position as a worry for the foreseeable future.
It also offers a higher ceiling. While punters and kickers can continue playing into their late 30s (or early 40s), they still tend to peak earlier. In 2024, each of the top six punters in net yards per punt was under 30 years old (it is also worth noting that four were undrafted). Rolling the dice on a young punter gives you a chance to land one of the position’s elites.
Pitting Kroeger and McNamara against each other would fit perfectly into the Jets’ overarching offseason philosophy. In year one of a retooling stage with little pressure to win right away, this regime is not concerned with floors or reliability. They are taking high-ceiling gambles on young players and giving their coaching staff a chance to mold those pieces of clay over time.
Why should the punter position be excluded from that?
