Scouting New York Jets kicker Blake Grupe

After final cuts, the Jets claimed a few players, including kicker Blake Grupe. Despite being on the 53-man roster, Grupe was inactive for the team’s opener, as Jason Sanders was elevated from the practice squad and handled the kicking duties, but he may get an opportunity in due course. Today we take a look at Grupe in more detail.

The 27-year old Grupe is listed at 5’7″ and 156 pounds and was undrafted out of Notre Dame in 2023. Having won the Saints’ job as a rookie, he kicked for them for two and a half seasons before being released in November, then ended last season with the Colts but failed to win their placekicker role in training camp.

Background

Grupe was originally a walk-on at Arkansas State, having been unranked as a high school recruit. He redshirted his first season in 2017, but then took over as the team’s kicker early in the 2018 season.

Having made 14 of 21 field goals in his first season, Grupe showed a dramatic improvement in 2019 and was named as an all-Sun Belt Conference first teamer after making 19 out of 22 field goal attempts.

He was just 11 of 18 in 2020 but bounced back to make 20 of 25 in 2021, earning second-team all-conference recognition.

Ahead of the 2022 season, Grupe transferred to Notre Dame and he made 14 of 19 field goals for them, but was perfect on 49 extra points.

Grupe’s NFL career began as he was picked up by the Saints as an undrafted free agent and made a game-winning kick in his first ever preseason game. He built on that to win the kicker job and had a solid first season that saw him make 30 of 37 field goals and all 40 of his extra points.

In 2024, he had another good year as he made 27 of 31 field goals, although he did also miss two extra points.

Last season didn’t go so well for Grupe initially, as he missed eight field goals in the first 12 games and was released by the Saints in November. However, the Colts claimed him following an injury to Spencer Shrader and he excelled down the stretch as he was 11 of 11 on field goals and 10 for 10 on extra points over the last five games.

He was hoping to hold onto the job in preseason but missed a couple of kicks, including a 36-yarder.

The Jets claimed Grupe off waivers following final cuts, after the Colts had opted to stick with Shrader as their full-time kicker.

Now let’s break Grupe down in a variety of categories, based on in-depth research and film study.

Measurables/Athleticism

Grupe is the smallest kicker in the NFL based on listed weight and there are only currently two players in the league who have a lower listed weight than he does. He did not work out at his pro day.

In high school, Grupe played soccer and baseball.

Leg Strength

Despite his diminutive size, Grupe has good power, and has creditable numbers of 19 made field goals on 27 attempts from beyond 50 yards.

He has made a 60-yard field goal at the NFL level and it should have been a game-winner but the Colts’ defense gave up a late score to lose.

Grupe’s leg strength on kickoffs is difficult to judge. As a rookie, he put up some of the best numbers in the NFL on kickoff metrics, with 76 touchbacks on 85 attempts.

However, the change in rules has not been good to him as his numbers dropped precipitously in his second season and were among the worst in the league last year.

This may not reflect on his leg strength, though. Perhaps he has been instructed to lay his kicks short of the end zone and his coverage units haven’t been pulling their weight.

If this is a concern, punter Austin McNamara could kick off instead, as he was continuing to work on this in camp, having done it at times last year.

Accuracy

With an 82 percent success rate on field goals at the NFL level, Grupe has hit the all-important 80-percent benchmark in his career so far. However, he’s been a little inconsistent and streaky with that.

2025 in particular was a tale of two seasons for Grupe, who missed 6 of 11 kicks from beyond 40 with the Saints to lose his job, but then was perfect on 21 kicks in five games with the Colts.

In college, he was below 80 percent overall and only exceeded 80 percent in one of his five seasons.

Clutch

As noted above, Grupe had a game-winner in his first ever preseason game and hit a go-ahead 60-yarder in a game with the Colts, albeit that this ended up being a loss.

Otherwise, he hasn’t had a lot of significant success in clutch situations. He had a 42-yard game-winner with 77 seconds on the clock in a 2021 game, hit a game-winning extra point with 32 seconds left in a 2019 win over Coastal Carolina and made an overtime field goal in 2018, although again this ended up being a loss.

His first three games at the NFL level were all high pressure situations as each was decided by three points or less. He handled the pressure well initially but missed a key go-ahead field goal attempt in week three.

He also missed a 48-yarder as time-expired as Arkansas State lost their season finale 24-22 to Texas State in 2021.

Tackling

Grupe only had one tackle in his college career, but has been credited with three at the NFL level. However, his lack of size is detrimental in this area.

Intangibles/Miscellaneous

Grupe has shown good character to start off as a college walk-on and then win a couple of kicking competitions. He was respected in New Orleans for his ability to bounce back from tough stretches and was even named as a team captain.

He was good academically, finishing his degree in the spring before his redshirt junior season and then moving on to do a masters. He was a two-time member of the Arkansas State athletic director’s honor roll and was an academic all-district 6 selection in 2020.

He has limited experience of kicking in cold weather climates at the NFL level, although a couple of his 2025 games were in heavy rain and windy conditions and he mostly fared well under these conditions.

Grupe hasn’t had major injury issues during his NFL career but did deal with a minor groin issue during his rookie season.

Over the course of his NFL career, Grupe has been a teammate of several current Jets: Demario Davis, Adonai Mitchell, Kene Nwangwu and Jack Heflin.

Grupe has never punted at the NFL, college or high school level and has yet to be involved in a fake field goal.

Conclusions

For now, the Jets seem to prefer Sanders, despite his preseason struggles and an embarrassing miss in the opener. Aside from that miss, Sanders did a good job, but the Jets won’t tolerate too many more mistakes before they give Grupe a shot instead, assuming Grupe is kicking well in practice. An inflection point may come after week three, at which point the option of elevating Sanders from the practice squad may have been fully exhausted.

Grupe has some good leg talent, and a decent track record, but we’ve seen recently how difficult it is to get someone you know you can rely on.

In light of their recent history, it seems unlikely the Jets will stick with Sanders all year, so Grupe should get a chance at some point but we’ll have to wait and see. If he does, hopefully we get the 2025 Colts version and not the 2025 Saints version.