Jets' Kicker Competition Takes Another Turn to Start June

Jets’ kicker battle is now down to two candidates: York vs. Koo

As we previously mentioned, the German-born kicker didn’t have a great practice at Thursday’s session, which put him behind the eight-ball against a veteran like Koo.

Koo, who is coming off an up-and-down 2025 season with two different teams and was at the Saints rookie minicamp last month, reportedly made all his field goals, including a 47-yard attempt.

If you’re the Jets, the hope is that Koo will look like the guy we saw with the Falcons between 2020-23. That would help lessen the blow of not bringing back Nick Folk, who was one of the most accurate kickers in the league last season.

However, the coaches likely hoped that Krieg would apply pressure on the other candidates, especially considering that York is dealing with a groin injury. Anytime a player deals with an injury, it bodes well for the other guys in the competition, as it creates more opportunities to build their case on why they should be the starter.

That didn’t happen for Krieg, who was initially signed at the end of the 2025 regular season by the Jets to a futures deal. He was already fighting an uphill battle as a futures signing, as New York brought in York in free agency and Ferrin following the draft.

The fact that Krieg outlasted Ferrin is a credit to him, but as the competition gets stiffer, he can’t afford any slip-ups, which happened last week.

Looking ahead to the two remaining options in York and Koo, it will be interesting to see if York is healthy enough to start practicing as the second set of OTAs gets underway this week.

York can ill afford to miss any more time, given he didn’t kick at all during the regular season in 2025. But the fact that he’s survived two cuts already in the kicking competition tells us that New York’s coaches want to see what he can do.

However, York will be up against it, as his resume pales in comparison to Koo’s. York has made 73.3% of his field goals in his career (23 games), while Koo has made 85.3% of his field goals over his 98 career games.

Both kickers have the leg to make field goals from 50-plus yards out, but at the end of the day, it will come down to who will be more consistent and accurate.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out going forward, as nothing is stopping the Jets from looking at other guys if neither York nor Koo stands out.