The New York Jets may have found themselves in a kicking competition they didn’t exactly plan for.
After waiving in Blake Grupe following Jason Sanders’ uneven finish to the preseason, the Jets now have a situation that Aaron Glenn described Monday as a straight-up battle. The head coach said it is a “competition” between Sanders and Grupe, and he added that the roster picture remains “fluid.”
Grupe, 27, comes to New York after losing the Indianapolis Colts’ preseason kicking job to Spencer Shrader. His preseason line was a mixed bag: he made both extra points, but he missed two of four field-goal tries, including attempts from 36 and 61 yards.
His NFL resume is longer than that one preseason showing, and it tells a more complicated story. Over 50 regular-season games across three seasons, Grupe has converted 86 of 105 field-goal attempts, good for 81.9%, and 96 of 98 extra points, a 98% clip.
His career long is 60 yards. He also connected on seven field goals from 50 yards or longer in 2025, which ranked ninth among kickers, but he missed five tries from inside 50.
Sanders, meanwhile, spent his first eight seasons with the Miami Dolphins and was reliable for most of that stretch. He made 84.6% of his field-goal attempts there, and in 2024 he drilled 27 straight, setting a franchise record. But a hip injury erased his entire 2025 season, and it’s fair to wonder whether that issue is still lingering.
His preseason finale didn’t help. Sanders missed an extra point and then left a 54-yard attempt short, a rough finish that put the Jets in this spot. In a league where top kickers are expected to handle 60-yard range, that kind of miss stands out fast.
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