Austin McNamara was recently included in a starting lineup constructed by Pro Football Focus entirely of undrafted free agents. The punter was undrafted out of Texas Tech and originally signed with the Cincinnati Bengals but was waived during training camp.
McNamara signed with the Jets last March and led all undrafted punters in PFF grade (90.3) and average hang time (4.70 seconds). He averaged 46.7 yards per punt and his longest was 72 yards.
PFF's analysis said: "If that performance carries forward, McNamara has a clear path to becoming one of the league's most effective punters."
Like McNamara, special teams coordinator Chris Banjo is back for his second year with the Jets. During minicamp he said over the offseason McNamara has focused on consistency.
"We talk about some different things situationally like between me and him and I think his bandwidth has kind of grown, his capacity has grown to be able to download some of the things we're trying to ask him to do," Banjo said. "It's been really good to see him download it again just like everyone else we've mentioned from a mental aspect and go about that process every day this offseason."
Special teams play was a bright spot for the Jets in 2025 but Banjo knows "there's always room for improvement."
"That's what our jobs are as coaches to try to help those guys get to that ceiling aspect of it and I think he still has a good ways to go, but he definitely put a lot out there and put us in a lot of great positions throughout the season," Banjo said of McNamara's first year with the Jets. "We look forward to him doing the same thing."
