Getty The Indianapolis Colts have decided whether or not to bring back Rodrigo Blankenship at kicker for the 2022 season.
Following a major injury to punter Rigoberto Sanchez, the Indianapolis Colts needed to add a punter to their roster. To do so, the organization also made a final decision at another specialist position.
The Colts announced on August 25 that they signed veteran punter Matt Haack and waived kicker Jake Verity. Without Verity on the roster, Rodrigo Blankenship has won the training camp battle to be the Colts kicker.
Blankenship is the only kicker remaining on the Colts roster.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Indianapolis worked out six punters on August 24 to replace Sanchez. Haack was the team’s choice to sign.
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Blankenship Wins Kicker Battle
Blankenship kicked well for the Colts as a rookie in 2020, but he only played in five games last year before suffering a hip injury. So Indianapolis signed Verity to a reserve/futures contract this offseason to compete with Blankenship during training camp.
Both kickers performed well, and Verity showed a lot of promise. He made both his field goal attempts and went 2-for-3 on extra points in the two preseason games. But Blankenship was more consistent in practice.
Rodrigo Blankenship goes 5-of-5 with makes from 28, 32, 40, 47, and 56.
Jake Verity was 4-of-5, missing wide right on the 56-yarder.
Blankenship made his only field goal and extra-point attempts (one each) of the preseason.
The 25-year-old kicker has connected on 84.3% of his field goals and 94.3% of his extra points in 21 career NFL games. From inside 50 yards, Blankenship has made 89.4% of his field goals.
His weakness, though, and part of why the Colts brought in a kicker to compete with Blankenship, is the strength of his leg. In his career, he has made just 1 out of 4 field-goal attempts from 50 yards or longer. But Blankenship did appear to show more accuracy from that distance in practice this training camp.
Verity worked under perhaps the best kicker in the league last season in Justin Tucker with the Baltimore Ravens. Verity was an undrafted rookie in 2021 and spent the season on the Ravens practice squad.
He has yet to kick in an NFL regular season game.
Colts Sign Haack
This season will be the first time since 2016 that someone other than Sanchez will be the primary punter for Indianapolis. Haack replaces Sanchez, who suffered a torn Achilles while running sprints at the end of practice on August 23.
Haack had a bit of a down season last year, averaging a career-low 42.9 yards per punt. He has averaged 44.4 yards per punt in his five-year NFL career. Haack became the starting punter for the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted rookie in 2017. He stayed in Miami for four years and spent last season with the Buffalo Bills.
One decision remaining for the Colts is who will serve as the kickoff specialist. Sanchez has kicked off for Indianapolis and posted a 60.0% touchback rate over the last five years.
In all likelihood, it will be Blankenship kicking off this season for the Colts. He kicked off 20 times in 2020 and on 4 occasions last year. With those opportunities, Blankenship posted a 62.5% touchback rate.
Haack has kicked off 4 times in his NFL career and not produced a touchback.