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 football player card: K Jared Zirkel

Georgia Bulldogs kicker Jared Zirkel will be a key player to watch next season. He went to the same high school as Johnny Manziel.

Jared Zirkel, Kicker:

Class: Freshman

Height: 6-3

Weight: 185 pounds

Hometown: Kerrville, Texas

High School: Tivy High School

Georgia Bulldogs kicker Jared Zirkel will be a key player to watch next season. The incoming freshman is expected to takeover Rodrigo Blankenship’s role as starting kicker.

Zirkel came to Athens as a three-star recruit. He’s regarded as one of the top kicker prospects in the class of 2020. In addition to kicking, Zirkel gained some experience as a punter in high school. He additionally made a career long field goal of 59 yards at Tivy, which is also the high school of SEC legend Johnny Manziel.

Zirkel was on a high school team that didn’t need him much. He only attempted six kicks as a senior at Tivy. Over 90% of his kickoffs resulted in a touchback as a junior.

Zirkel will compete with Brooks Buce for the starting job next season.

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