Getty Indianapolis Colts kicker Rodrigo Blankenship has been competing for his job during training camp.
As the saying goes, kickers are people too. So naturally, they sometimes have to earn their jobs during training camp.
After kicking well through 21 career NFL games, that’s the case for Rodrigo Blankenship with the Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis signed kicker Jake Verity to a reserve/futures contract this offseason, and he’s been competing with Blankenship for the place-kicker position.
While speaking to the media on August 10, Colts head coach Frank Reich revealed what he and the coaching staff are looking for from the kicker who will ultimately win the role.
“So, we’re really looking for those guys to show consistency in the mid-ranges and be able to be a weapon over 50 yards,” Reich told reporters. “Both guys have a strong enough leg to do that.
“The way Chris (Ballard) and I talk about it, it’ll play itself out. Two good kickers and it’s been a good battle.”
At practice on August 11, both kickers reportedly performed well, but Blankenship had the edge. He went 5-for-5 and made his lone 50-plus yard attempt. Verity was 4-for-5 and missed his one 50-plus yard attempt.
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.
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Consistency from Under 50 Yards
Reich didn’t specific what he considers to be “mid-range” for field goals. In previous decades, that was probably anything under 40 yards, but kickers have grown a lot more accurate over the years.
So in today’s NFL, “mid-range” attempts could arguably be anything up to 49-yard tries.
The top four kickers in field goals made last season all made at least 90% of their field goals under 50 yards. New England Patriots kicker Nick Folk led the league, going 31-for-31 from under 50 yards.
The Colts received close to that consistency (90%) with legendary kicker Adam Vinatieri. He made 88.0% of his field goals under 50 yards over 14 seasons in Indianapolis.
Blankenship did very well with mid-range field goals as a rookie, making 31 out of 34 attempts (91.2%). But his percentage dropped to 84.6% in a small sample (11-for-13) in 2021.
Both of his misses from under 50 yards came against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5. Those inaccurate kicks could have been the result of Blankenship playing through a hip injury, which sidelined him the rest of the season after Week 5.
Even still, Blankenship has been rather consistent in mid-range field-goal situations, making 89.4% of his attempts closer than 50 yards in his career.
Blankenship Looking to Improve at Long-Range Attempts
The second component of what Reich is looking for from his kicker is where Blankenship can improve the most. He is just 1-for-4 on attempts from 50 or more yards in two seasons.
That’s a small sample, but his percentage from beyond 50 yards must improve for the Colts to have confidence in Blankenship from long range. Last year, eight kickers made 70% of their kicks from at least 50 yards with a minimum of six attempts.
Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, who again became the highest-paid kicker with his new contract extension on August 8, went 6-for-6 from 50-plus yards. Pittsburgh Steelers‘ Chris Boswell had the next best percentage, going 8-for-9 (88.9%), and Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson was 9-for-11 (81.8%) from beyond 50 yards.
Blankenship doesn’t have to be among the leaders, but it’s going to take him hitting 50-60% and maybe even 70% of his attempts from 50-plus yards to be a “weapon” for Reich. Vinatieri made 67.3% of his field-goals from 50 or more yards.
Blankenship hitting a 56-yarder in practice is a good start, especially when his competition didn’t.