NY Jets: 5 breakout performers the team should build around

5. Matt Ammendola, K, NY Jets

The Jets of the recent past made a mockery of the kicking game, cutting five current NFL starting booters (Jason Myers, Nick Folk, Cairo Santos, Randy Bullock, and Chase McLaughlin).

So it was only a matter of time before they got things right.

In the season opener, Matt Ammendola got forced into emergency punting detail when Braden Mann went down with a serious knee injury.

In that game, the first-team academic All-Big 12 recipient in all four of his years at Oklahoma State averaged a stellar 48.5 yards on six punts, with two inside the Carolina 20-yard-line, including a booming 68-yarder.

The former soccer star with little gridiron fanfare — undrafted in 2020 and later cut by Carolina — has been a money placekicker and untouchable on kickoffs.

On Sunday, he made both field goals and three extra points. His only miss this season was a desperation 53-yarder that hit the upright against the Patriots.

Even more impressive, unlike most wiry or stubby kickers, Ammendola looks like a football player, a fully jacked workout warrior.