Taking a look at an old friend at kicker
The New York Jets recently signed veteran placekicker Nick Folk. Let’s therefore look at Folk in more detail.
Jets fans will be familiar with Folk, who kicked for the team from 2010 to 2016. However, he’s now 40, and seeking to prove he can still kick at a high level as he will compete with Harrison Mevis for the Jets’ kicker role. Although Folk’s only Pro Bowl appearance was all the way back in 2007, he’s been one of the best kickers in the league in recent seasons and led the league in field goal percentage in 2023 and 2024.
Background
Folk was named as a two-star high school recruit by Rivals and headed to Arizona in 2003, but his career got off to a slow start. He missed all three of his field goals in his freshman season and then made 8 of 13 as a sophomore and 7 of 11 as a junior. He was 15 for 20 and named as an all-PAC 10 after his senior season in 2006.
The Dallas Cowboys drafted Folk in the seventh round of the 2007 draft and he made an immediate impact with the Cowboys as he went to the Pro Bowl after having made 26 of 31 field goals and all 53 of his extra points.
Folk was good again in 2008 as he made 20 of 22 field goals and all 42 of his extra points, then started the 2009 season strongly by making 14 of his first 17 field goals despite having to return from offseason surgery. However, he then went into a slump and missed seven of his next 11 field goals so the Cowboys cut him.
The Jets picked him up in 2010, and he seemed to have put his 2009 struggles behind him as he made at least 75 percent of his field goals in each of the next seven seasons in New York.
His best season was 2013, which saw him named as a PFF All Pro after he made 33 of 36 field goals, including a then-franchise record 56-yarder. Folk also set a Jets record by making 23 field goals in a row.
He had a strong season in 2016, as he made 87 percent of his field goal attempts, but was still a cap casualty after the season.
Folk’s next stop was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he only played four games with them before ending up on injured reserve. It seemed like his career might be over as the Bucs released him after the season and he was out of the league in 2018.
After a brief stint in the AAF with the Arizona Hotshots, Folk was a late season signing for the New England Patriots in 2019 and also kicked for them in 2020, 2021 and 2022, although he was released and placed on the practice squad several times over that period.
His performance in New England was spectacular, though. At one point he made 36 field goals in a row and 64 straight from less than 50 yards. He made 89 percent of his field goals with the Patriots but was still traded to the Tennessee Titans for a late round pick ahead of the 2023 season.
Trading for a 38-year old Folk worked out quite nicely for the Titans, though, as Folk only missed one field goal in 2023 and then only missed one again in 2024. He led the league in field goal accuracy percentage in each season.
Folk worked out and signed with the Jets last week, after they had announced the release of undrafted rookie Caden Davis.
Now let’s break Folk down in a variety of categories, based on in-depth research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Folk has adequate size but now that he’s 40 is presumably even less athletic than he ever was. His non-kicking contributions have been few and far between with five special teams tackles in his NFL career. He rushed once for one yard in college.
Leg Strength
Folk is not necessarily known for having the biggest leg. His longest ever field goal was just 56 yards, although he did make a 58-yarder with room to spare in a video recently circulated to NFL front offices. He’s been in the league long enough that he’s made 47 kicks from 50 yards or beyond, although his success rate is only 67 percent from that range.
He had two games last season where he was 3-for-3 from beyond 50 yards, so he still has that kind of range. He didn’t attempt any other 50-yarders all season, though. He also hit the crossbar from just 48 yards on this 2022 attempt.
Leg strength on kickoffs could potentially be a minor concern. While he was in New England, the Patriots usually had the punter kicking off. Then when Folk did kick off full time in 2022, he had three returned for touchdowns, including two in a crucial late season game. This was part of the reason they got rid of him.
His kickoff numbers in Tennessee were more encouraging, as he posted a career-high touchback percentage last year. However, he can probably still be considered below average in this area.
Accuracy
Folk had had multiple seasons where his field goal percentage exceeded 90 percent and has set some records in terms of consecutive successful field goals. His extra point percentage is just under 97 percent and his field goal percentage for his career as a whole is comfortably over the 80 percent benchmark at 84 percent.
The few prolonged slumps he has had in his career tend to have been injury related and he eventually found a way through those.
Clutch
Folk earned the moniker “Folk Hero” in his first stint with the Jets, as he hit some memorable game winners over the years, including (but not limited to) a postseason game-winner in Indianapolis, a 50-yarder to win the 2011 season opener against Dallas, a 48-yarder to win on Geno Smith’s debut in 2013 and an overtime game-winner against New England in the famous “Pushgate Scandal” game.
He also hit several game winners with Dallas, New England and Tennessee over the years. Perhaps the most memorable was his “106-yard field goal” for Dallas in his rookie year. In that game, his onside kick was recovered to set up a 53-yard game-winner which he had to make twice because the first one was blown dead. One of his game-winners for New England was a 51-yarder to keep the 2020 Jets winless.
He hasn’t had many missed kicks that cost his team the game over the years, admitting that he is still motivated by a miss he had in the last minute of a 9-7 loss to Wisconsin while at Arizona, which apparently went right down the middle before veering off course at the last moment. In New England, they lost one game where his 56-yard attempt was unsuccessful as time expired, but that was hardly a choke as it had the distance and hit the upright in rainy conditions.
Similarly, the only missed kick that directly cost the Jets a potential win during his seven years with the team was a 58-yarder that was blocked as time expired against New England in 2014.
Tackling
As noted, Folk has five tackles in his career, including one last season (although that was his first since leaving the Jets nine years ago).
Intangibles/Miscellaneous
Folk actually also has some experience as a punter so that’s a role he could handle in an injury crisis. He punted in high school and also punted 96 times at Arizona, where he averaged over 44 yards per punt. He even punted twice for the Titans two years ago.
Injuries have been a constant issue throughout his career and, given his age, the team might be wise to keep another kicker on the practice squad as he’s a possible durability concern.
His 2009 slump came after he was making his return from surgery for a torn labrum in his hip, although he had started well. Apparently, this eventually caused a mechanical issue which he later corrected.
With the Jets, he landed on injured reserve in 2015 with a quad injury and last season he missed three games with an abdominal issue. He also missed a game in 2019 due to requiring an appendectomy.
Conclusions
Folk’s return signifies that the Jets were perhaps not too enamored with Mevis and Davis, and, although Mevis remains with the team for now, it seems unlikely Folk would re-sign here without a strong expectation of being able to earn the starting role.
Over the years, he’s been an excellent kicker and as reliable as anyone the Jets have had since. You might expect him to decline as he enters his forties, but the numbers over the past two seasons are so good that hopefully he should at least be a reliable short-term solution.
Perhaps the Jets will keep Mevis on the practice squad so that Folk can mentor him and the team can groom him to take over in 2026.