Nick Folk, who spent the past two seasons with the Jets (he spent his first three years with the Cowboys) has a good leg, but he can be too inconsistent for special teams coach Mike Westhoff's taste. So, this year, the Jets have brought in veteran Josh Brown to compete with him.
In 2011 Brown and Folk finished 27th and 28th respectively in the NFL in field goals made (Folk was tied with Jay Feely of Arizona, Matt Prater of Denver and Lawrence Tynes of the Giants).
In kickoff percentage Josh Brown finished the 2011 regular season with an average of 65 percent while Nick Folk finished 31st with an average of 63.7 percent.
The two players, who are also friends, are battling and it’s neck and neck. According to Westhoff, the competition is very close and he has no gut feeling on how it will turn out. Westhoff said he will judge both kickers on their “entire body of work” over the duration of training camp.
While Folk had a decent amount of success, Westhoff has been frustrated by his lack of consistency, something he has struggled with throughout his career.
Brown provides an intriguing option. Throughout his career, he has been more consistent, although last year he struggled making just 21 of 28 field goal attempts.
During training camp, both kickers have only a couple of misses each. Most of Brown’s misses tend to be wide right on shorter-distance kicks (e.g. 34 and 38 yards), while Folk has generally missed at 40-plus.
With the first preseason game just days away, one of the two is going to have to distinguish himself.
Stay dialed in on the New York Jets by following correspondent Lisa Zimmerman on Twitter@CBSSportsNFLNYJ and @LisaZimmerman.
No ad available