{"id":358507,"date":"2025-09-11T03:44:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T03:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/358507\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T03:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T03:44:09","slug":"2-new-york-jets-players-who-can-replace-xavier-gipson-as-kr-pr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/358507\/","title":{"rendered":"2 New York Jets players who can replace Xavier Gipson as KR\/PR"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a costly fumble on a kickoff in Sunday\u2019s season opener<\/a>, the New York Jets have released wide receiver and special teamer Xavier Gipson.<\/p>\n

Gipson\u2019s departure<\/a> leaves the Jets without a primary punt returner and at least one of their kickoff return roles. The situation at kick returner could be further complicated if Kene Nwangwu, recovering from a hamstring injury, is not ready to return for the team\u2019s Week 2 matchup<\/a> on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n

Two players seem to be in line to take over Gipson\u2019s workload on special teams, both of whom we analyze below. <\/p>\n

WR Jamaal Pritchett<\/p>\n

Most people were surprised to see Gipson earn a spot on the team\u2019s 53-man roster<\/a> over Jamaal Pritchett, following his outstanding performance in the preseason.<\/p>\n

On punt returns, Pritchett flashed his explosiveness at 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds. Despite muffing a punt, Pritchett returned nine punts for 103 yards, including a long of 41 yards with an average of 11.4 yards per return.<\/p>\n

That same juice carried over to the offensive side of the ball. Per Pro Football Focus, Pritchett led all wideouts in forcing missed tackles with six, a total matched only by New England rookie Efton Chism III. That figure was at least double what nearly every other receiver managed, with Cleveland\u2019s Gage Larvadain (four) the lone exception.<\/p>\n

Pritchett has limited experience as a kick returner. He fielded just one kick during his college career at South Alabama and lined up at the position only once this preseason.<\/p>\n

Even so, there is clear value in elevating Pritchett to the active roster. <\/p>\n

He represents a clear upgrade over Xavier Gipson, who has committed 10 fumbles in 35 career games as a punt returner. Beyond special teams, Pritchett also offers more upside and explosiveness as a receiver and could carve out a role on offense.<\/p>\n

WR Isaiah Williams<\/p>\n

The Jets signed Isaiah Williams<\/a> to their practice squad on Wednesday after the release of Gipson.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old spent the preseason with the Cincinnati Bengals, where he returned both punts and kicks at a high level.<\/p>\n

The Illinois product returned three punts for an average of 14.7 yards per return while securing a long of 28.<\/p>\n

On kick returns, Williams returned six kicks for 149 yards (24.8 yards per return) and a long of 30. <\/p>\n

With a strong week of practice, Williams could emerge as the frontrunner to replace Gipson, as he returned both punts and kicks this preseason, while doing so at a high caliber.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a costly fumble on a kickoff in Sunday\u2019s season opener, the New York Jets have released wide…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[7,3228,15371,226,5615,1917,255,2321,2097,6,6531,7823,3916,3232,3233,3234,21639],"class_list":{"0":"post-358507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-free-content","10":"tag-jamaal-pritchett","11":"tag-jets","12":"tag-kene-nwangwu","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-jets","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkjets","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-ny-jets-column","19":"tag-ny-jets-image","20":"tag-ny-jets-players","21":"tag-ny-jets-roster-depth-chart","22":"tag-ny-jets-rumors-transactions","23":"tag-standard","24":"tag-xavier-gipson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115183607330426934","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}