LSU Kicker Cade York, Punter Zach Von Rosenberg Named to Lou Groza, Ray Guy Award Watch Lists
LSU not only returns solid foundational pieces from last year’s team on offense and defense but on special teams as well. On Wednesday, LSU kicker Cade York and punter Zach Von Rosenberg were recognized for their potential 2020 seasons.
York, the Tigers sophomore kicker, was named to the Lou Groza Award watch list while Von Rosenberg, LSU’s fourth year starter senior punter was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list.
As a freshman, York had some big shoes to fill after Cole Tracy set the field goal record the year prior. The McKinney, Texas native went 21-of-27 on his field goals and knocked in 89 additional extra points.
He was named to the 2019 SEC All-Freshman team and a second-team All-SEC selection by the Associated Press. Year two will come with plenty of expectations to improve as York did go through a rough patch at the beginning of SEC play.
With Connor Culp electing to transfer and the Tigers electing not to bring in anybody to compete with York, it shows the confidence the team has in their sophomore kicker. After years of kicker being a question mark with the program, Tracy and now York have to leave LSU fans in good spirits about the future of the position.
Von Rosenberg returns as one of the more experienced punters in the country and has been a consistent, reliable performer for the Tigers to this point. While LSU was racking up the most points in FBS history last season, it was easy to forget about Von Rosenberg and how important he is to the team.
His usage dipped a bit in 2019 but one thing he dramatically improved was pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line. While he only punted 40 times last year, 18 of those punts were placed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, a formula LSU would love to see carry over into 2020.
Boasting a career average of 44 yards per punt, the near 30-year-old senior could very well find a second life in the NFL after originally being drafted by the MLB as a pitcher fresh out of high school.
There’s no need to fret after Von Rosenberg’s departure at the end of this season either. Orgeron and company have locked up a commitment from the No. 1 punter in the 2021 class in West Monroe native Peyton Todd.
Todd was able to receive some sound advice from Von Rosenberg when he visited LSU last fall.
"He just told me to keep working hard and just to kind of come up and keep the legacy going," Todd said. "I know LSU's had great punters in the past whether it's Brad Wing or Zach. They have a certain special teams standard they live up to and his message to me was to keep working hard."
