Spring Position Battles: Who Will Be Georgia's Kicker?

Originally posted on FanNation Dawgs Daily
By Christian Goeckel | Last updated 2/6/23

For the first time since 2020, Georgia football will be looking for a new kicker. Three-year starter Jack Podlesny is headed to the NFL. During his time at Georgia, Podlesney hit 61 of 74 field goals, including 26 of 31 as a senior. He also hit 182 out of 184 extra point attempts.

Perhaps his biggest kick came on New Year’s Day in 2021, when his last second 53-yard field goal lifted Georgia over Cincinnati 24-21 in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.

With Podlesny off to the NFL, Georgia will look to a number of talented kickers to fill his shoes. Jared Zirkel, Henry Bates, and Peyton Woodring will all be a part of the competition this spring, and through fall camp.

Zirkel seems like the early favorite. He’s the only kicker besides Podlesny to have logged a field goal this past season, a 21-yarder against South Carolina. 2023 will be Zirkel’s fourth year at Georgia. He redshirted in 2020, and has seen sporadic work as on the kickoff team. He originally came to Georgia out of Texas, where he was the 4th overall kicking prospect per 247Sports.

Bates will enter his sophomore year with a legitimate shot at the place kicking spot. He was a late addition to Georgia’s 2022 class out of Ware County. During his time in Waycross, Bates hit field goals of 45 and 47 yards, as well as hitting 114 kickoffs for touchbacks.

Peyton Woodring, not to be confused with Peyton Woodyard, is the No. 1 kicker in the class of 2023, per Kohl’s Kicking. During his junior year at Ascension Episcopal (Lafayette, LA), Woodring hit a 56-yard field goal during a game.

Whoever wins the job, it’ll be a large task to replace the All-SEC production from Podlesney.