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Georgia kicker Jack Podlesny accepts Senior Bowl invite

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•01/04/23•

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Tony Walsh / UGA Sports Commmunications

Georgia kicker Jack Podlesny accepted his invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Wednesday night, showing his hand as to his intentions for the 2023 football season. Podlesny, a fifth-year senior, had another year of eligibility remaining due to the 2020 COVID season not counting. He’ll join Christopher Smith and Kenny McIntosh in Mobile for the draft process showcase game on February 4th. Podlesny also previously accepted an invite to the Hula Bowl on January 14th.

Podlesny won SEC Special Teams Player of the Year, the second Georgia player to do so joining Jake Camarda from 2020. He also earned first-team placekicker and kickoff specialist according to the coaches. Twice was Podlesny named Special Teams Player of the Week, doing so in back to back weeks. He had a career-high four field goals against Samford and Missouri and scored a career-high number of points (15) in the win over Samford.

“Yeah, it’s awesome, but I’d rather have seven than three,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said of his veteran kicker this season. “So, I mean, it’s — but the flip side of that is you have to go for seven if you don’t have that. And it is a luxury to have him. He’s been Mr. Consistency since he’s been here, and he’s mentally wired the right way and does a tremendous job for our program. But, you know, the more we use him, the more we realize that those are points left on the board.”

“It definitely builds my confidence a little bit to know that he’s able to rely on me and that I can go out there and kick a field goal no matter the distance I can execute,” Podlesny added about Smart. “I’ve also just got to be comfortable with myself. A lot of it’s self-confidence.”

Overall on the season Podlesny has hit 25 field goals on the season with 65 extra points. His 140 points is the highest total of his career, topping last season’s total of 137. He’s 25-of-30 with a long of 50 yards this year and an overall career mark of 60-for-73 (82.19 percent) including a career-long of 53 that won Georgia the 2021 Peach Bowl over Cincinnati.

Podlesny still has one game to go in his Georgia career before turning the attention to his NFL Draft preparation. He’ll look to put behind him two missed field goals in Georgia’s 42-41 Peach Bowl victory over Ohio State as the Bulldogs head to Los Angeles, Calif. later this week to take on the TCU Horned Frogs in the College Football Playoff Championship Game at SoFi Stadium next Monday, January 9th. Kickoff time between the Bulldogs and Horned Frogs is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with Georgia opening as nearly a two-touchdown favorite.

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