The Jets have experienced the kind of season you expect when you have a new regime installing from the ground up. There have been some sensational highs, some depressing lows and everything in between. The one consistent throughout the 2025 campaign has been the Special Teams unit led by first year coordinator Chris Banjo.

There is an argument to be made that the Jets have at least three Pro Bowlers on their special teams unit in punter Austin McNamara, kicker Nick Folk and return man Isaiah Williams, with all three of them playing a part in the Jets recent victory over the Falcons.

Isaiah Williams had a momentum shifting 82-yard return, Nick Folk kicked the winning 56-yard FG and Austin McNamara consistently pinned the Falcons deep in their own territory, including one punt that was downed inside the 5-yard line.

You don’t need statistics to tell you that the Jets have one of the best special teams units in football, but I’m going to give them to you anyway.

Last weekend, the Jets had an EPA (expected points added) of 15.22 against the Falcons, the second best single-game performance of any special teams unit in a game this season, and it just so happens to be the second best single-game performance by the Jets since the year 2000.

The Jets are:

#1 in the NFL in terms of field goals made (95.6%).
Joint first with a 100% conversion rate on extra points.
They’re one of only two teams to have both a kick return TD and a punt return TD.
The unit ranks 3rd in EPA across the entire season.
They’re #1 in kickoff return average at 29.6 yards.
They lead the NFL with 55 returns of 20+ yards and are 3rd with 5 returns of 40+ yards. 

They’re a top 10 team in punt return average and have had two returns of 20+ yards and one return of 40+ yards.

That’s just on the offensive production side of special teams. Defensively they’re also right up there with the best units in football. 

The Jets rank 3rd in the NFL having allowed just 89 yards of total punt return yardage all season, which is good for an average of 5.6 yards per return.
They’re top five with 22 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.
They have the 6th best net average in the NFL at 43.6 yards per punt.
They also haven’t allowed a single return TD all season, whether through punts or kickoffs. 

Right now, Austin McNamara is making a very good argument for being the #1 punter in the NFL. The Arizona native went undrafted out of Texas Tech in 2024 and was cut early in August last year before catching on with the Jets this season. 

His success is not overly surprising. Austin was a 3× first-team All-Big 12 in college and the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year in 2023. His emergence this year will have you dreaming that your punter position is secure for the foreseeable future. 

Austin often said that he believes his hang-time is what got him his opportunity with the Jets and the stats back him up. As of week 13 his 4.75 hang-time is the 2nd highest in the NFL. You can have a booming leg, but it’s largely pointless if you continuously outkick your coverage. 

McNamara has the perfect combination of directional punting, leg strength and hang-time. Right now he’s 7th in Pro Bowl Voting, but I think we can – and should – get him climbing up those rankings. 

The Jets are getting contributions up and down the lineup, including from Isaiah Williams who has quickly turned his Jets tenure around after he was demoted to the practice squad following some difficult moments on MNF. Add in the play of guys like Kene Nwangwu and Qwan’tez Stiggers who dived on the fumble on Sunday and you have a unit that is operating at a very high level. 

Then you get to Jets kicker Nick Folk, who made his debut in 2007, 6 years before special teams coordinator Chris Banjo made his own debut with the Green Bay Packers in 2013. 

Folk spent 7 years with the Jets between 2010-2016 before returning to the team this year, and his steady presence is proving incredibly helpful to first-time coordinator Banjo. 

Banjo learned his trade under one of the finest special teams coordinators in NFL history and a name very familiar to Jets fans, Mike Westhoff. Banjo worked as Westhoff’s assistant in Denver, and Mike has often called Banjo his protege. When Banjo was hired with the Jets this offseason, he brought Westhoff into camp, which if you ask this humble writer, was an incredibly smart thing to do. 

Earlier this week Aaron Glenn was asked about what makes Chris Banjo such an effective coach: “Those guys can relate to him really, really well.  He was one of those guys that was a true special teams demon so he understands how that part of our team has to operate.”

He certainly has the playing experience to tell some old war stories. Banjo recorded over 2,600 special teams snaps over his 10-year career, and when you combine that with the experience working under one of the very best, is it any surprise the Jets have one of the best units in football?