Morris County – The Jets have two talented kickers with NFL experience competing for their placekicker job – Jason Sanders and Cade York.
Don’t be shocked if the runner-up in this competition ends up kicking for another team in the league this season.
“I could definitely see that for sure,” said Jets special teams coordinator Chris Banjo. “I think both of these guys are extremely talented. Both of these guys are extremely competitive; they push themselves, they push each other. So, definitely wouldn’t be surprising to see both of these guys kicking in the league this year.”
How hard is it to evaluate kickers in a competition when most of it is taking place in Florham Park, not at the stadium the Jets play in, which can have tricky, unique winds?
“I think there’s some validity to that a little bit,” Banjo said. “But at the same time, when you talk about just opportunities in general, we don’t necessarily get a chance to always dictate what that’s going to look like.”
Who is going to win the competition? Hard to tell, but perhaps Sanders might have a slight edge since he was with Miami the last eight seasons, so he kicked in the Jets’ division, so not only does he have a good feel for MetLife Stadium, but also Miami’s Hard Rock, New England’s Gillette and Highmark (though the Buffalo Bills are moving to a new stadium this year, but it’s right next to the old one).
“Absolutely, that’s very, very beneficial,” Banjo said about Sanders’ experience in the division. “Very, very valuable to him, to us as a team, right? Being able to get ahead of that a little bit. So, when the time comes, when the dust settles, we’ll see exactly how impactful that is, but having, I think for any kicker in our league, the more you can know these stadiums, the more you can kind of know these wind patterns in the different environments, the better it will be for your job, honestly.”
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