With less than two weeks until the 2026 regular season begins, there are three competitiors in play for the New York Jets’ starting kicking job.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Jets have brought in Joshua Karty for a workout.
The Jets had declared Jason Sanders the winner of their kicking competition early last week. However, Sanders had a poor week of practice and proceeded to miss two kicks in the preseason finale.
That prompted the Jets to release Sanders and sign him back to the practice squad. To replace him on the active roster, they claimed Blake Grupe off waivers from the Indianapolis Colts.
Grupe and Sanders are in a competition leading up to Week 1. If Sanders outperforms Grupe, the Jets can release Grupe and sign Sanders to the active roster. If Grupe wins, the Jets can leave things as-is.
Karty, though, adds another layer to the competition.
The 24-year-old was a sixth-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2024. Across two seasons, Karty kicked in 25 games, making just 79.6% of his field goal attempts and a brutal 88.7% of his extra points.
Karty is 7 for 9 from 50+ yards with a long 58 yards, but he is alarmingly prone to whiffing chip shots, as shown by his extra-point percentage. Karty has missed two kicks from under 30 yards, three in the 30-39-yard range, and three in the 40-49-yard range.
The Jets are running out of time to figure out their kicking situation before they touch down in Nashville, but they seem to be exhausting the last-minute options at their disposal.
