The New York Jets’ first camp competition is already over, and the answer was the one they’ve leaned on for years.
Thomas Hennessy, the team’s longest-tenured player, beat out rookie undrafted free agent Garrison Grimes for the long snapping job after the Jets waived Grimes last week.
Special teams coordinator Chris Banjo explained the decision on Friday, pointing to the same traits that have kept Hennessy in place since 2017.
“Just his consistency; his consistency, his decisiveness,” said Banjo. “He’s almost like a pacifier for everybody else around him in regards to how consistent and how trustworthy he is in his job assignment, and he does a great job with that.
His knowledge of the game, right? He’s almost made my job much easier in regard to getting ahead of how he sees things, so it’s easier for me to communicate with him and communicate with the guys around him.”
Grimes had been a real challenger for the role. The BYU product brought a perfect 10.0 Relative Athletic Score, the highest mark ever recorded among long snapper prospects in league history.
Still, Hennessy’s track record carried the day. The 32-year-old has been a model of dependability since arriving in New York in 2017, appearing in all 149 games the Jets have played since then and recording 29 tackles.
His recent work has stayed strong, too. In seven of his last eight seasons with the Jets, Hennessy earned a special teams grade of 70.0 or better from Pro Football Focus. His 70.5 grade in 2025 ranked ninth among qualified long snappers.
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