Tag: jake camarda uga

Projecting Georgia’s special teams depth chart

The Georgia Bulldogs return a lot of talent on special teams like Jake Camarda and Jack Podlesny for the 2021 college football season.

The Georgia Bulldogs return one of the top punters in the country in Jake Camarda. Camarda is a senior from Norcross, Georgia. He’s expected to return as Georgia’s No. 1 punter after averaging 46.6 yards per punt last season.

Jake Camarda will look for more consistency on his kicks, but overall, he was impressive last season. He was especially accurate at pinning teams inside the 20. Camarda had 18 punts pinned inside the 20 last season and only six touchbacks. Noah Chumley projects to be Georgia’s No. 2 punter in 2021.

Jake Camarda additionally handled kickoff duties for the first time of his career in 2020. The Norcross High School product recorded 36 touchbacks on 41 kicks last season. Look for him to be the primary kickoff specialist once again in 2021.

Starting kicker Jack Podlesny saved his best moment for last in the 2020-2021 season. Podlesny nailed a 53 yard game-winning kick to beat Cincinnati in the final seconds of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

Podlesny went 13-16 on field goal attempts last season. The junior did a solid job replacing Rodrigo Blankenship, but will have talented redshirt sophomore Jared Zirkel competing with him for the starting role.

Georgia’s kicking game is in good hands. Georgia special teams coordinator Scott Cochran will have elite athletes to cover kicks and punts once again. Although, Georgia lost key special teamer Prather Hudson to the transfer portal.

UGA’s No. 1 kick and punt returner should be Kearis Jackson. Jackson was one of the better kick returners in the SEC last season. He returned 11 kicks for an average of 27.1 yards per return. On top of that, Jackson returned 15 punts for 87 yards (including a 52 yard return against South Carolina).

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Georgia punter Jake Camarda named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year

The junior is also semifinalist for the Ray Guy award given to the nations top punter. Details here

Georgia punter Jake Camarda was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year on Tuesday.

The junior from Norcross, Georgia, is a semifinalist for the Ray Guy award given to the nations top punter with an average of 47.9 yards per punt, good enough to rank second nationally.

Camarda was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week twice this season. Once in the Bulldogs season-opener at Arkansas where Camarda downed five punts at the 11-yard line or better and again for his performance in game 5 versus Kentucky, where his only two punts were downed inside the 10-yard line.

Camarda has also garnered All-SEC first team honors along with teammates Ben Cleveland and Richard LeCounte.

 

 

Georgia football player card: P Noah Chumley

Georgia Bulldogs punter/kicker Noah Chumley came to Athens after being a versatile athlete for Savannah Christian.

Noah Chumley, Punter/Kicker (No. 94):

Class: Redshirt freshman

Height: 6-3

Weight: 185 pounds

Hometown: Savannah, Georgia

High School: Savannah Christian

Georgia Bulldogs punter/kicker Noah Chumley came to Athens after being a versatile athlete for Savannah Christian. Chumley played soccer, football and basketball during his high school days.

In addition to kicking and punting, he also played defensive back and  receiver. His father, Donal Chumley, played defensive tackle from 1981-1984 and was named team captain during his senior season.

The younger Chumley averaged 43.3 yards per punt in high school. He reshirted during the 2019 season.

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UGA football player card: P Bill Rubright

Georgia Bulldogs punter Bill Rubright is the back up punter for UGA. He is behind Jake Camarda.

Bill Rubright, Punter (No. 93):

Class: Junior

Height: 6-3

Weight: 182 pounds

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia

High School: Marist High School

Georgia Bulldogs punter Bill Rubright is the back-up punter for UGA. He is behind Jake Camarda, who is also a junior. Rubright was a sought-after recruit coming out of Marist.

Rubright has punted five times in his career. He has some valuable experience, but has an uphill battle in his competition with Camarda, who ranked sixth in the country in yards per punt last season.

He was a three-star prospect coming out of high school.

Rubright chose coming to UGA as a walk-on in 2017 over playing on scholarship at schools such as San Diego State:

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UGA football player card: P Jake Camarda

Georgia Bulldogs punter Jake Camarda is a versatile special teams player for UGA, who can kick, hold kicks, and punt.

Jake Camarda, Punter (No. 90):

Class: Junior

Height: 6-2

Weight: 180 pounds

Hometown: Norcross, Georgia

High School: Norcross High School

Georgia Bulldogs punter Jake Camarda wears multiple hats for the football team. While he’s the starting punter, he additionally held placed kick attempts last season and has experience as a kicker. In fact, Camarda is listed as both a kicker and punter on Georgia’s roster.

Camarda was considered an elite prospect out of high school. He was rated as a three-star prospect and was considered one of the best punters and kickers in the country. He played high school football for Norcross.

He could compete with incoming freshman kicker Jared Zirkel for the starting job. It is easier to specialize in one aspect of the kicking game, but it is good to know the UGA has a serviceable replacement in the rare instance of an injury.

Camarda punted 61 times last season for an average of 46.8 yards per punt, which ranked sixth nationally. He was utilized much more than in the 2018 season, where he punted only 43 times and averaged 42.6 yards per punt. Camarda’s improvement helped put Georgia’s defense in superior field position.

The Bulldogs offense will look to perform better next season, but Camarda could help the defense once again. He certainly aided the defense out in key wins over Auburn and Kentucky last season. He punted eleven times versus the Tigers and had a long of 67 yards.

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