The 2018 Jets season was short on bright spots on both offense and defense, but they did pretty well on special teams.
Kicker Jason Myers was reliable throughout the season and found a spot on the AFC Pro Bowl roster. He’s joined on that roster by kick returner Andre Roberts, who is also PFT’s choice for the top special teams player of the year.
Roberts signed with the Jets as a free agent in the offseason and scored on a punt return to help the team to a win on the first Monday night of the season. Roberts also had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Week 16 and was one of only two players to score touchdowns on both plays this season.
Jakeem Grant of the Dolphins was the other player to do that, but injury kept him from playing the entire season. Roberts had several other big returns over the course of the season to help a sputtering offense get points off of short fields. He led the league with an average of 14.1 yards per punt return and finished second with 29.4 yards per kickoff return, although it should be noted that he handled nearly twice as many kickoffs as Darius Jennings.
Rams linebacker Cory Littleton, Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn and Giants kicker Aldrick Rosas were some of the other notable special teams performers this season.
PFT is also recognizing Chargers kicker Michael Badgley as the league’s top special teams rookie for 2018. Badgley failed to make the Colts out of camp and landed with the Chargers in October when Caleb Sturgis was injured. He made all three field goals he tried, but was briefly off the active roster when Sturgis was deemed healthy enough to return.
Good health didn’t help Sturgis to good results, however, and Badley was back in the job in early November. He finished the year 15-of-16 on field goals and 25-of-26 extra points to solidify a position that’s been a trouble spot for the Chargers whether they were in San Diego and Los Angeles in recent years.
Seahawks punter Michael Dickson gets a strong honorable mention on the rookie front. He had a net average of 42.5 yards per punt to help Seattle win many field position battles on their way to the postseason.