Scouting New York Jets UDFA punter Kai Kroeger

The New York Jets lately signed former South Carolina punter Kai Kroeger as an undrafted free agent. Let’s subsequently have a look at Kroeger in additional element.

The 22-year outdated Kroeger is listed at 6’3” and 212 kilos. He was undrafted out of South Carolina in April. The Jets signed Kroeger, a two-time all-SEC first teamer, after he attended their rookie minicamp on a tryout foundation.

Background

Kroeger was a two-star recruit out of highschool, the place he had additionally performed as a large receiver and three years as a quarterback.

He turned South Carolina’s punter at first of his freshman yr in 2020 and would go on to carry the job for 5 years, taking part in in a team-record-tying 61 video games in his profession.

After posting underwhelming numbers in his first two seasons, with a gross common of 43 yards per punt and a internet beneath 40, Kroeger broke out in 2022 and earned all-SEC first crew and all-American honors with a gross common of 46 and a internet of 42.

This included a sensational efficiency in opposition to the Clemson Tigers the place he posted a excessive common and landed a handful of punts near the aim line, together with two late within the sport because the Gamecocks held on for the upset win.

Head coach Shane Beamer stated that Kroeger was the perfect punter within the nation that yr and he couldn’t imagine he wasn’t a finalist for a Ray Man award.

2023 noticed a slight regression in the direction of the identical form of numbers Kroeger had in his first two years, however his 2024 season was even higher than his 2022 season. His gross common was just below 48 and his internet was just below 44, each profession highs. He was fourth and sixth within the nation in these two classes.

Kroeger was once more voted first-team all-SEC however snubbed from being a Ray Man award finalist. Nevertheless, he headed into the draft with loads of curiosity as he visited with all 32 groups. Whereas he didn’t earn an undrafted free agent contract, seven totally different groups invited him to their rookie camp and Kroeger finally signed for the Jets after attending theirs earlier this month.

Measurables/Athleticism

Kroeger is an identical dimension to Austin McNamara, his present competitors for the Jets’ punting position after the discharge of Thomas Morstead final week.

He didn’t do any of the exercises at his professional day, however he reveals flashes of his athletic capacity from having been a place participant in highschool in a few of his movie. For instance, he confirmed off satisfactory wheels on this two-point conversion.

Leg Power

Kroeger confirmed good leg power over the course of his profession, with 68 punts of fifty yards or extra, together with 4 of 70 or extra.

As famous, his gross punting common was fourth finest within the nation in 2024 as he posted a profession excessive, though it’s value noting that 12 NFL punters surpassed that quantity final yr.

Grasp time is a priority as a result of his numbers per PFF are constantly low. Nevertheless, these numbers are notoriously troublesome to report precisely and, in any case, will be deceptive if a punter will usually intentionally hit line drives away from the return man to restrict return yardage.

On the Shrine Bowl, as if to show himself able to high-hang time punting as required for the professional sport, Kroeger averaged a superb 4.4 seconds of grasp time per punt with one pinned close to the aim line.

Directional Punting

Kroeger’s numbers for directional punting are stable as he has put over 40 p.c of his profession punts contained in the 20, together with over 50 p.c in 2022.

This consists of loads of highlights of punts being downed on the aim line, together with that sport talked about above in opposition to Clemson which turned him right into a folks hero.

His touchback price has been good all through his profession, though it’s value noting that he had a career-high six in 2024 and posted his worst touchback share of his profession at 13 p.c. It was simply six p.c in his first 4 seasons.

By way of limiting returns, that is one thing Kroeger undoubtedly bought higher at over the course of his profession. He gave up 285 yards on 23 returns in his first two seasons however solely 201 on 49 returns within the three years since then, lowering the common from 12.4 to 4.1 yards per return.

Probably the most return yards he gave up in a sport over his closing three seasons was 36, on three returns.

Kicking

Whereas Kroeger doesn’t have any expertise as a placekicker, which may trigger the crew to look in one other course in an emergency, he did kick off 4 instances in 2024.

One among these was a profitable onside kick which gave them a late likelihood for a possible upset win. It was a singular kick too, drop-kicked with loads of spin on the ball.

Tackling

Kroeger solely had one particular groups sort out in his profession, however it was an essential one to save lots of a landing. He had restricted alternatives to make any tackles over the previous three years with none lengthy returns surrendered.

Holding

Kroeger has been thought to be a stable holder over the previous 5 seasons. Having performed vast receiver in highschool he probably has higher than common fingers.

Probably the most thrilling facet of his potential in a holder position is that he has channeled a few of that top college quarterback expertise into some respectable success on fakes.

For his profession, he was 7-for-10 for 205 yards and three touchdowns and that will have been 8-for-11 with 4 touchdowns if this unimaginable throw hadn’t have been worn out by a lineman’s penalty.

Intangibles/Miscellaneous

It’s not simply on pretend area targets that Kroeger has had passing success. He’s additionally seemed good on pretend punts. On a couple of event, he’s seemed a method earlier than throwing within the different course to govern or learn the protection and he’s proven good accuracy down the sector.

Kroeger’s scouting report is essential of how shortly he will get his punts off, however that doesn’t appear to be a big challenge as he solely had one punt blocked and that was as a result of a rusher being fully unblocked.

An alternate learn on this could possibly be that he’s usually capable of take his time as a result of groups don’t ship a lot of a rush as a result of being concerned about his potential to make a play together with his arm. As well as, he confirmed on the pretend area aim clip above that he doubtlessly has the motion expertise to keep away from a rusher and nonetheless get a kick off.

Kroeger has good intangibles based mostly on how adorned he was in faculty. He twice received the crew’s particular groups MVP award in addition to the 2022 Diet award, was a co-winner of the President’s Excellent Pupil-Athlete award, was nominated for the SEC’s prestigious H. Boyd McWhorter Award and was named 5 totally different instances to the SEC tutorial honor roll.

He additionally confirmed good management and a willingness to enhance. When the crew employed Joe DeCamallis, a coach with loads of NFL expertise, he introduced with him a collection of latest drills and made a minor tweak to Kroeger’s elbow place which clearly yielded optimistic outcomes.

Lastly, whereas he didn’t play in a chilly local weather, Kroger has had some good punting success in moist or windy circumstances.

Conclusions

The truth that the Jets signed Kroeger after getting an prolonged have a look at him throughout their rookie camp is critical. Releasing Morstead on the identical time could possibly be much more notable and maybe indicative of them being excessive on the rookie.

It’s maybe stunning that Kroeger needed to go through the tryout path to earn an NFL contract as a result of he was one of many top-rated punters heading into the draft.

Nevertheless, with McNamara – a participant who additionally has no NFL expertise – as his solely present competitors, Kroeger has a sensible likelihood to win Morstead’s outdated job and provides the Jets a youthful, cheaper choice with good upside.