New York Jets Midseason Report: Special Teams

Because they have struggled so much on the offensive side of the ball, the New York Jets have had to lean heavily on their special teams units. Drives that have stalled and resulted in either a punt or field goal attempt have become commonplace and thankfully for the Jets, this is one of their stronger facets.

On the return teams, the Jets have held their own on kickoffs both ways but struggled somewhat on punts.

OVERALL (A-)

General manager John Idzik shouldn’t have to worry about the special teams and put all his attention where it is needed – at quarterback, in the secondary and the entire coaching staff.

PLACE KICKING (A)

Nick Folk has been one of the best kickers in the NFL since coming to the Jets in 2010 and is 14-for-15 so far this season, with his lone miss being the 58-yard attempt blocked at the end of the loss to the New England Patriots.

In the all-important 40-to-49-yard range, the eight-year veteran is six-for-six.

The one detriment in attempting as many field goals as Folk has is that the Jets are not strong in the red zone, where their efficiency rating is 48 percent, down near the bottom of the league at 25th.

And Folk is perfect in extra point attempts (12-for-12) when the Jets do put the ball in the end zone.

PUNTING (A-)

Ryan Quigley has performed his job quite well by averaging 47.4 yards (ranked seventh overall in the league) on 42 punts. His longest kick was 64 yards and he has dropped 12 inside the 20-yard-line. A mere three touchbacks, zero blocks and 15 fair catches are also impressive stats.

More from New York Jets

KICKOFF RETURNS (A)

The speedster Saalim Hakeem was doing a decent job with 13 returns for 279 yards (21.5 average, 15th in the league) with 44 yards being his longest. But the addition of Percy Harvin seems to have made Hakeem an afterthought.

The former Seattle Seahawks multi-talented player is two spots ahead of his new teammate with 283 return yards and head coach Rex Ryan addressed the need for a home run threat from this area.

"I’d love to sign up for us to make some kind of explosive play…difference maker-type plays. I think having Percy back there returning kicks is going to help also."

The Jets are ranked first in the NFL with 689 yards on 29 attempts (23.8 average).

Holding their opponents to 20.5 yards average per kickoff return and zero touchdowns are encouraging stats.

PUNT RETURNS (C)

Three different players (Walt Powell, Jalen Saunders and Jeremy Kerley) have tried their hand returning punts for the Jets and none of them have separated themselves from the pack. As a team, they are averaging a paltry 3.9 yards per returns on 22 punts – 31st in the league.

Saunders – a 2014 fourth round draft pick – muffed a punt in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears and was cut two weeks later. He is now with the Arizona Cardinals practice squad.

Their opponents have fared a little better with a 8.7 average on 12 punts.

TOMORROW: Coaching Staff, Front Office

YESTERDAY: Defense

MONDAY: Offense

Home/New York Jets