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Jackson Smith commits to Kentucky

This kid is the real deal kicker...
Great addition....

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We’ve already witnessed how a great kicker can change your season by a couple of wins every year 4-8 wins in their career. I wonder how much of a difference you can expect from a 4 star DB or of LB in their 4 years?
 
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Assuming he going to specialize in place kicking- no punting- at UK?

We’ve had some fg adventures recently just with extra points.
Ruffalo’s been good. I couldn’t even watch his wining ep vs Va Tech in Charlotte. He also had a clutch fg in that one. We lose if he missed either.
Important position.
Glad to have you Jackson!
 
Assuming he going to specialize in place kicking- no punting- at UK?

We’ve had some fg adventures recently just with extra points.
Ruffalo’s been good. I couldn’t even watch his wining ep vs Va Tech in Charlotte. He also had a clutch fg in that one. We lose if he missed either.
Important position.
Glad to have you Jackson!

I believe we have a very good punter coming in that even Duffy says is the real deal.
 
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We’ve already witnessed how a great kicker can change your season by a couple of wins every year 4-8 wins in their career. I wonder how much of a difference you can expect from a 4 star DB or of LB in their 4 years?
I agree. A good fg kicker will win you at least one game a year. Same is true in NFL. Chicago lossed in playoffs a few years ago with the “double doink”. Parkey missed 11 FG’s that year!

You would think college and NFL would place higher value on drafting/recruiting excellent kickers. Raiders drafted kicker in 1st round about 20 years ago and dude played forever.
 
One of the odd consistencies of UK football is it’s multi-decade commitment to giving schollies to good kickers. Many programs try to lure them as walk-ons.

But punting and place-kicking are a huge component of the game.

Oh, Jackson Smith averaged just a tad over 48 yards a punt as a Junior . . . pretty close to Duffy’s numbers the year he won the Ray Guy Award.

Our new Aussie better be sharpening up the banana kick: he’ll have competition!!
 
One of the odd consistencies of UK football is it’s multi-decade commitment to giving schollies to good kickers. Many programs try to lure them as walk-ons.

But punting and place-kicking are a huge component of the game.

Oh, Jackson Smith averaged just a tad over 48 yards a punt as a Junior . . . pretty close to Duffy’s numbers the year he won the Ray Guy Award.

Our new Aussie better be sharpening up the banana kick: he’ll have competition!!
What these Aussies are so good at is putting spin on it and getting them to bounce the way they want the ball to. It was incredible watching Duffy punt. I hope this kid can kick FGs at an 85 percent clip that would be awesome.
 
What these Aussies are so good at is putting spin on it and getting them to bounce the way they want the ball to. It was incredible watching Duffy punt. I hope this kid can kick FGs at an 85 percent clip that would be awesome.

Apparently Smith puts in the normal style and also punts Aussie style.

He is ranked the number 1 kicker, punter, kickoff specialist, and has the strongest leg in the class of 2022.

I actually think I saw a ranking at one point that was for all kickers in high school, and this was sometime last year, so he would have just been a sophomore then and he was rated number 1 in every category. Higher than seniors and juniors.

There was also a relative of a kid on here at one point who mentioned that the number 1 long snapper in the nation was likely to go to UK. I think he is a Florida kid and is class of 2023. Just thought it was interesting to have that many special teams guys so high on UK in a short span.
 
Max Duffy effect after winning the Ray Guy Award?

To be honest, I think it was just kind of a coincidence that two of the best in a short time frame had/have connections to UK. Smith is a legacy and the long snapper is George Shannon. A poster said it was his nephew and he was 'leaning heavily towards,' UK. So, it might be another kind of family connection thing.
 
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To be honest, I think it was just kind of a coincidence that two of the best in a short time frame had/have connections to UK. Smith is a legacy and the long snapper is George Shannon. A poster said it was his nephew and he was 'leaning heavily towards,' UK. So, it might be another kind of family connection thing.

I'm happy to have the family connections in special teams, but it would be nice if the legacies would capture the likes of Jamal Adams and the Martin brothers to name a few.
 
I'm happy to have the family connections in special teams, but it would be nice if the legacies would capture the likes of Jamal Adams and the Martin brothers to name a few.
Think Joker was Jamal's godfather and that was the end of UK...plus he was raised in Texas. Agree on the Martin brothers and Truman Claytor's son went to GaT.
 
My nephew has been attending the Kohl’s kicking camps and was invited down to IMG academy. He’s also attended Ray Guy camps as well. He’s in the 2023 class. He’s moving up the ranks after just starting to play football as a freshman. He’s spent all his life as a soccer player. And a good one at that too. But now I think he’s ready to focus 100% on earning a kicking scholarship.

https://kohlskicking.com/player-profiles/kellan-mclaughlin
 
What these Aussies are so good at is putting spin on it and getting them to bounce the way they want the ball to. It was incredible watching Duffy punt. I hope this kid can kick FGs at an 85 percent clip that would be awesome.

They put enough English on it to curve it while still in the air: a.k.a. “The banana.”
 
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