Replacing Rodrigo: Georgia Must Find a Way to Fill a Legend's Shoes

For the past couple of years on game day Saturdays in Athens, about 15 minutes before kickoff, a thunderous roar would echo out of Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium and throughout the Classic City. The applause and the cheering were attributed to the love and appreciation that Dawg fans came to have to one particular player.

The gratitude that was being shown in the explosion of noise out the home crowd was not for the announcement of a starting star running back, stud pass rusher, or even the starting quarterback. All of this was for the kicker. Yes, the kicker!

Rodrigo Blankenship will go down in Georgia lore as one of the more beloved Bulldogs ever. A workmanlike attitude that led to the walk on receiving a scholarship, a pair of rec specs, and strong and accurate right leg are all things that factor into the admiration that the University of Georgia faithful have for Blankenship.

Social Media accounts across the entire country, regardless of program affiliation, buzzed with excitement and congratulations when Rodrigo was awarded the Lou Groza Award for the nation's top kicker on December 12th. Many football fans, in general, had fallen in love with the legend that was and is 'The Specs'. It was all well deserved and Dawg fans won't soon forget number 98, but the show must go on.

In 2020 the Dawgs will play without him for the first time in the Smart Era. The question is, how will they go about it?

There are a few paths that Georgia could take. Anyone who has paid attention to Kirby Smart's tenure with the Bulldogs knows that internal competition is something that the Dawgs welcome. A culture of approaching practice with intensity and desire that is uncommon to your run of the mill college football program is what is pushing Georgia into the upper echelon at all positions. The placekicking duties will be no different.

I expect there to be an open competition for the job. The three candidates will likely consist of returning punter Jake Camarda, redshirt Junior to be, and current backup to Blankenship, Brooks Buce, and incoming true Freshman out of Kerrville, Texas Jared Zirkel.

Camarda obviously has the most game experience of the three. However, all of his work has been as a punter and a holder. Jake Camarda is no stranger to placekicking as he came into Georgia as the nation's number four ranked kicker and an Under Armour All-American. The Norcross product kicked four field goals of over 50 yards in high school with a long of 55 yards.

All of this is impressive, but when asked about the possibility of Jake handling both punting and kicking earlier this season, Kirby Smart alluded that while it is not ruled out in the least, the workload and preparation in order to do both at an elite level is a large consideration that will be taken by the staff.

Buce and Zirkel, both very skilled and with celebrated high school careers, will have opportunities to prove themselves.

Brooks Buce has hit some G-Day field goals and handled kickoff duties in blowouts, but that is the extent of his experience for Georiga. Buce's career-long in high school came in just short of Camarda's at 54 yards.

Jared Zirkel has signed with Georgia in some capacity. Chatter abounds about whether or not Zirkel is being blue-shirted by the Dawgs in order to gain another spot in the 2020 recruiting class. Regardless, Zirkel has a tremendously strong leg with an impressive career-long of 59 yards coming in his Junior season. One concern would be that, according to Maxpreps, Zirkel was only 75% (9 of 12) for his career and there were not a lot of actual game attempts period.

Whoever wins the job will be stepping into the shoes of a Bulldog that made his mark during his time in Athens. It will be important to establish consistency and confidence early on. With the aspirations that Georgia will have in 2020 and beyond, a kick late in a big rivalry game, an SEC Championship, or a game of even more consequence could be quite possible.

The four seconds after toe meets leather on that kick could go a long way to filling those brightly colored shoes of number 98 and creating a new hero in Athens.

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