It’s not every day your college’s kicker is being discussed as a player NFL fans want their team to take in the NFL Draft, which is still basically a year away.
But NinerNoise of Fansisded, a blog covering the San Francisco 49ers, has their eyes on Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship as an early candidate to replace star kicker Robbie Gould in San Fran.
NinerNoise released a story titled ‘5 college players the 49ers should watch for the 2020 NFL Draft‘ and the list opened with Blankenship, also known as Hot Rod.
Currently, Gould and the 49ers are in a standoff, and it is looking as if the best-case scenario for the two parties would be if Gould signs his franchise tender, likely resulting in another standoff next offseason.
From NinerNoise:
San Francisco might decide to look at a cheaper and younger option at kicker. Rodrigo Blankenship might be the best kicker in this upcoming draft.
He can hit kicks from 50-plus yards with his leg power, too.
Blankenship looks a steady candidate for the 49ers, who showed with their 2019 NFL Draft selection of Australian-born punter Mitch Wishnowsky that they’re perfectly happy to make sure they spend whatever pick it takes to address special teams.
Hot Rod’s career at Georgia has been an incredible one so far. In his three years, he is 53-64 on field goals and 154-154 on extra points.
