Tag: jack podlesny

Packers trim kicking competition, release K Jack Podlesny

The Green Bay Packers’ kicking competition is down to two. The team announced the release of kicker Jack Podlesny on Wednesday, trimming the competition to incumbent Anders Carlson vs. veteran Greg Joseph just a month away from training camp. 

The Green Bay Packers’ kicking competition is down to two. The team announced the release of kicker Jack Podlesny on Wednesday, trimming the competition to incumbent Anders Carlson vs. veteran Greg Joseph with training camp about a month away.

Podlesny, an undrafted free agent out of Georgia, signed a futures deal with the Packers in January. He previously spent time with the Minnesota Vikings. The Packers provided opportunities for all three kickers during the offseason workout program, which concluded last week.

While the Packers considered the possibility of taking three kickers to training camp, reducing the competition to just two probably made more sense from a roster-building and practical standpoint. Providing kicking opportunities for more than two kickers would have been difficult for special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia.

Carlson ended the offseason workout program on a high note, according to Matt LaFleur, and Joseph has an experience edge after spending the last three years as the kicker for the Vikings.

General manager Brian Gutekunst now has two open roster spots. It’s possible the Packers could still add competition at kicker this summer.

The Packers return to training camp on July 17, with the first practice scheduled for July 22.

Green Bay Packers sign former Georgia Bulldogs kicker

Green Bay Packers sign former Georgia Bulldogs kicker for the 2024 NFL season

The Green Bay Packers signed former Georgia kicker Jack Podlesny on Wednesday, the team announced.

Podlesny served as UGA’s place kicker and kickoff specialist during the back-to-back national championship run from 2021-2022. He played in 40 games as a Bulldog, making 82% of his field goal attempts, which is good enough for third all-time in Georgia history.

Podlesny earned All-SEC first-team and SEC Special Teams Player of the Year honors for his performance in 2022.

The St. Simons Island, Georgia, native went undrafted in the 2023 NFL draft. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings but was waived in August after losing a competition for the starting spot.

Podlesny was extremely reliable at Georgia and has the tools to compete with Packers’ kicker Anders Carlson for the starting spot in Green Bay. Carlson missed an NFL-high 11 kicks this season, including a pivotal field goal in the divisional-round loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Packers signing former Vikings kicker Jack Podlesny

Anders Carlson has a new challenger: the Packers are signing former Vikings kicker Jack Podlesny to the offseason roster.

The Green Bay Packers are signing kicker Jack Podlesny to the offseason 90-man roster, according to Bill Huber of Packer Central.

Coach Matt LaFleur said the Packers were open to competition at kicker for Anders Carlson, who missed a 41-yard field goal during the team’s NFC Divisional Round loss to the San Francisco 49ers and ended the season with misses in 10 of the final 12 games, including the postseason.

For now, the competition will be Podlesny, who went undrafted out of Georgia in 2023. He spent part of training camp with the Minnesota Vikings but was released in mid-August.

The Packers worked out Podlesny (along with Parker White) in September.

Over three seasons at Georgia, Podlesny made 60 of 73 field goals (82.2 percent) and 182 of 184 extra points (98.9). During his redshirt senior season in 2022, Podlesny missed only four kicks (26 of 29 on field goals, 73 of 74 on extra points) and led the nation in scoring. During the College Football Playoffs in 2022, he made 3-of-5 field goals and 12-of-13 extra points. He missed from 47 yards and 52 yards but his extra point gave Georgia a 42-41 win over Ohio State in the semifinal.

Podlesny, a two-time national champion at Georgia, participated at the Senior Bowl ahead of the 2023 draft.

Carlson was a sixth-round pick of the Packers in 2023. He made 27 of 33 field goals and 34 of 39 of extra points. He led the NFL in missed extra points. Overall, including the postseason, Carlson missed 13 kicks in 19 games.

Podlesny made just 54 percent of kicks (13 of 24) over 40 yards at Georgia, including a 3-for-8 finish in 2022. He made a 53-yard field goal to beat Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl as a redshirt sophomore.

Vikings waive former Georgia kicker

The Minnesota Vikings have waived a former UGA football kicker to sign running back Aaron Dykes.

The Minnesota Vikings waived former Georgia Bulldogs kicker Jack Podlesny on Thursday.

Jack Podlesny made 61 of 74 field goal attempts (82.4%) during his career at Georgia. The highlight of Podlesny’s career came when he hit a 53-yard field goal in the final seconds to help Georgia defeat Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl.

Podlesny was named as the SEC’s special teams player of the year in 2022. He went undrafted in the 2023 NFL draft.

Podlesny appears to have lost Minnesota’s kicking competition to incumbent kicker Greg Joseph. Joseph made two field goals on two attempts, including a long of 54 yards, and an extra point in the Vikings’ Week 1 preseason loss to Seattle.

The Vikings waived Podlesny to make room for running back Aaron Dykes as Minnesota looks to find depth at the running back position. The Vikings are looking to replace running back Dalvin Cook, who signed with the New York Jets.

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Vikings sign RB Aaron Dykes, waive K Jack Podlesny

The Vikings are still concerned with their running back depth and addressed it on Thursday morning

The Minnesota Vikings have unofficially crowned Greg Joseph the winner of the kicking competition as they released K Jack Podlesny and signed RB Aaron Dykes. The move was announced by the team on Thursday morning.

The Vikings brought in Dykes for a visit two weeks ago when they signed running back Abram Smith.

Dykes went undrafted this April out of Richmond but saw success for the Spiders at the FCS level. He ran for 777 yards and four touchdowns while also catching 29 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns in his final season.

Podlesny looked to be kicking well during practice, but a red flag was raised when he didn’t kick at all in the first preseason game. Joseph had a great game and earned the job.

The Dykes signing is for depth, as Kene Nwangwu still hasn’t returned to practice.

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10 players who need a great performance vs. Seahawks

Heading into Thursday’s preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks, these 10 Minnesota Vikings need a great performance.

After two weeks of Minnesota Vikings training camp, we are starting to see a divide between players at each position. Preseason games set things apart as well, as live game reps matter more than practice.

Throughout practice, there have been plenty of standouts, but the players who have been struggling are the ones that need a great performance. If you play well in a live game setting, that can change everything for your potential chances to earn a roster spot.

Here are 10 players that need to have a great game against the Seattle Seahawks to improve their chances to make the roster.

Matt Daniels says it’s a “kicking competition” between Joseph and Podlesny

Despite being a solid kicker for the Vikings, it appears that Greg Joseph will still have to earn his starting spot.

When the Minnesota Vikings opened training camp, it seemed unlikely they would move away from Greg Joseph as their starting kicker.

Over two seasons with the Vikings, Joseph has developed into a reliable leg nearly automatic within 50 yards. Despite struggling past 50 yards last season (Joseph missed six kicks from this range), it seemed like the Vikings were well-positioned in the three specialist areas.

However, if special teams coordinator Mike Daniels’s comments are any indication, the Vikings have opened up a kicking competition. According to Sam Ekstrom of Locked On Minnesota, Daniels said it is a “kicking competition” between Joseph and undrafted rookie Jack Podlesny.

Podlesny was a standout kicker at the University of Georgia and quickly bloomed into one of the country’s most reliable legs. Over three seasons, Podlesny made around 80% of his field goals, including a career-high 83% last season.

With training camp still in its infancy, it’s possible that Daniels is just trying to keep Joseph motivated. However, it is something to watch as we head towards preseason.

 

Madden ratings for every Vikings specialist

Madden rankings for the Minnesota Vikings specialists are fine, but not great.

On Monday, the first batch of Madden 24 rankings and the first 99 overall in this year’s game were released.

They are currently releasing two position groups per day and started with wide receivers and safeties. On Tuesday, they released edge rushers and defensive tackles. On Wednesday, they ranked the offensive lineman and the running backs. On Thursday, they started with the tight end and cornerback rankings. On Friday, they started with the quarterbacks and inside linebackers. We finish things off with the specialists.

Vikings 90-man roster player profile: K Jack Podlesny

A two-time national champion, Jack Podlesny provides an interesting challenge to Greg Joseph.

Welcome to the beginning of our 2023 season preview content!

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at each player on the roster in-depth with backgrounds and how they currently project forward on the Minnesota Vikings roster.

What is the best-case scenario? What is the worst-case scenario? What should we expect from them during the preseason and beyond? We will break all of that down here.

As a staff, all of us at Vikings Wire ranked the entire 90-man roster 1-90 and will be releasing player profiles in reverse order.

Countdown to Georgia football: No. 96 Jack Podlesny

Jack Podlesny, No. 96. Damn Good Dawg!

There are 96 days remaining until the back-to-back national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs, kickoff of their 2023 season against UT Martin.

Let’s take a look back at one of the best players in UGA history to rock the number 96, kicker Jack Podlesny, a two-time national champion.

Picked up as an undrafted free agent following the 2023 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings, Podlesny left Georgia as one of the greatest kickers in program history.

A 2018 recruit out of St. Simons Island, Georgia, Podlesny walked on to the team and redshirted his freshman year. In 2019, Podlesny was behind Georgia legend Rodrigo Blankenship on the depth chart.

Blankenship left Georgia after the 2019 season, leaving UGA fans worried about the kicker position. But Podlesny quickly put those nerves to rest and finished the season 13 of 16 on field goals, 38 for 38 on extra points, and 12 of his 21 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. That season, he was also a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation’s top kicker.

Additionally, his big moment came against Cincinnati in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl where he hit the game-winner from 53 yards out with three seconds to go.

In 2021, the year Georgia won its first title since 1980, Podlesny connected on 22 of 27 field goal attempts, including a season-long 49-yarder in the College Football Playoff National Championship game vs. Alabama.

In 2022, he was an Associated Press and Coaches’ All-SEC First Team member. He hit on 26 of 31 field goals and his 151 points accounted for are a single season record at UGA, surpassing his previous record of 137.

He finished his UGA career with 365 points scored, fifth all-time in UGA history. Keep in mind he only played three seasons, and one of them was a shortened 2020 season in which UGA only played 10 games.