Georgia kicker Jack Podlesny named to Groza Award watch list
Georgia kicker Jack Podlesny made the watch list for the Lou Groza Award on Wedneday, becoming the 13th Bulldog individual to be recognized so far. Watch lists for the Paul Hornung Award, Wuerffel Trophy, Walter Camp Award and Bednarik Award are still to come, and there are sure to be some Bulldogs listed.
As far as Podlesny goes, the St. Simons, Ga. native enters his third season at the helm holding the Georgia starting kicking job. He was a semifinalist for the Groza Award in his first season back in 2020, making 13 of 16 field goals during the season as well as 38 of 38 extra points. He split kickoff duties that year with punter Jake Camarda, seeing 12 of 21 sail for touchbacks. Podlesny was named to the AP’s All-Bowl Team after making a career-long 53 yard field goal with 3 seconds left in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl to help Georgia beat previously undefeated Cincinnati. He was named Offensive MVP of the game for his effort.
This past season, Podlesny’s numbers dropped down a little bit with some early struggles, making 22 of 27 attempts overall, but he bounced back back by making 12 of his last 13 including a season-long 49-yarder in the National Championship Game against Alabama. That was one of three kicks that he hit in Indianapolis to help Georgia end its 41-year title drought.
Entering 2022, Podlesny’s job seems secure. That can obviously change in a heartbeat with a slump, but unless something goes wrong – either in performance or injury – “Hot Pod” is the guy for Georgia. And he’ll be taking on a bigger role than his previous two seasons, more than likely helping handle the kickoff duties that were previously held by Jake Camarda. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, a stickler for special teams, noted that hole as one of the biggest that the Bulldogs have to fill this spring.
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“It’s wonderful to have a guy that’s kicked in a lot of big moments,” Smart said of Podlesny this spring. “He’s hit some big kicks in big moments. He’s a model of consistency in terms of the way he works about things.”
“We had one of the most elite guys to probably ever play college football that’s gone,” he added, speaking on Camarda’s success at kicking off, hitting over 85 percent for either a touchback or a fair catch. “He’s (Podlesny) going to have to step up because you guys just count that play like it doesn’t count. For us, it probably hasn’t counted for the last two years because of the guy that we had. It’s going to count a whole lot more, so we need to step up and do that well.”
Other Georgia Players on Watch Lists
Stetson Bennett – Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award
Brock Bowers – Maxwell Award, Biletnikoff Award, John Mackey Award
Jalen Carter – Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Outland Trophy
Jamon Dumas-Johnson – Dick Butkus Award
Warren Ericson – Outland Trophy
Arik Gilbert – John Mackey Award
Broderick Jones – Outland Trophy
Kelee Ringo – Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Paycom Jim Thorpe Award
Christopher Smith – Paycom Jim Thorpe Award
Nolan Smith – Bronko Nagurski Trophy
Sedrick Van Pran – Rimington Trophy
Darnell Washington – John Mackey Award
