Countdown to Kickoff: Blake Grupe is the Saints Player of Day 19
We’ve got just 19 days left until the New Orleans Saints open up their 2024 regular season against the Carolina Panthers, which makes our player of the day kicker Blake Grupe, the current owner of the No. 19 jersey. Grupe has found himself in a kicking battle for the second year in a row, hoping to come out on top once again.
Let's give a little bit of a background on the second-year pro and what we can expect from Grupe in 2024:
Name (Age): Blake Grupe (25)
Position: Kicker
Height, weight: 5-foot-7, 156 pounds
Relative Athletic Score: N/A
2024 salary cap hit: $915,833
College: Notre Dame
Drafted: Undrafted in 2023 (New Orleans Saints)
NFL experience: 2nd season
Grupe grew up in Missouri, where he attended Smith-Cotton High School in the city of Sedalia. He was a three-sport athlete in soccer, baseball and football where he earned all-state recognition. During his high school football career, Grupe set school records for field goals ultimately earning him an opportunity to play college ball at Arkansas State.
He started out his Arkansas State career earning the kicking job in Week 3 of his redshirt freshman season. In his first year starting, Grupe hit on 14 of his 21 field goal attempts, good for 67%. Grupe would then follow that up with a stellar campaign as a sophomore hitting on 19 of his 22 tries putting him at 86% on the season.
After a down year in 2020, Grupe rebounded in 2021, allowing himself the opportunity to transfer to Notre Dame, one of the most prestigious programs in the country. In his final collegiate season, Grupe knocked down 14 of his 19 field goals with a long of 47, tying the second highest mark of his career.
As the college football season concluded and the NFL draft rolled around, Grupe was regarded as one of the best kicker prospects in the country. After going undrafted in 2023 like most specialists, Grupe signed with the Saints, immediately entering into a kicking battle with former Pro Bowler Wil Lutz. The two competed all through camp until the end of the preseason, where Lutz was traded to the Denver Broncos crowning Grupe as the winner.
In his first season as the Saints' pllace kicker, Grupe hit on 30 of 37 field goal tries (81%) with his long being 55. Although battling through some inconsistency, Grupe had some special moments in year one. In Week 5, Grupe earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after connecting on two 50-plus yard field goals and hitting on all four of his extra point tries.
Going into the 2024 season, Grupe is in another kicking competition this time with undrafted rookie Charlie Smyth. All throughout training camp the two have been pretty even as far as production which means it will likely go down to the wire when it comes to a decision. This was the case last season when Grupe got his shot, the only difference is now Grupe isn't the young buck anymore. With one week left in the preseason, the room for error will only narrow meaning Grupe must do everything in his power to hold onto his job.
More 2024 season!
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This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Blake Grupe is the Saints Player of Day 19
