Colts: Rodrigo Blankenship wins kicker job after Saturday cuts
By Adam Weinrib
The Indianapolis Colts are waiving kicker Chase McLaughlin, handing the job to Rodrigo Blankenship.
After we heard all the positive buzz and beat writer updates from Colts camp about long-range king Rodrigo Blankenship, we were left hoping the coaching staff would go with their gut, without a true veteran option in place.
Luckily, it seems that recency bias was in play when final roster decisions were made.
Blankenship, one of the most exciting college kickers in recent vintage with the Georgia Bulldogs, appears to have won the starting gig with the Colts this year, as Chase McLaughlin found himself among the team’s final cuts.
The #Colts are waiving kicker Chase McLaughlin, source said. He’d been competing in camp with rookie Rodrigo Blankenship.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 5, 2020
Blakenship will be officially filling the shoes that were worn temporarily by McLaughlin last season — those of Adam Vinatieri, the 47-year-old wonder whose effectiveness was somehow only just beginning to wane.
The last time we heard a definitive update from the competition was on Aug. 29, a day Blankenship drilled 6-of-7, with his long registering at 52 yards.
McLaughlin, on the other hand, went 4-of-7.
So, undrafted rookie Rodrigo Blankenship wins the Colts' first kicking competition since 1998. #respectthespecs
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) September 5, 2020
He'll also be the first full-time kicker on this roster not named Adam Vinatieri since 2005 — Peyton Manning's seventh year in the league.
No only do the Colts have a potential steal on their hands here, but the inclusion of Blankenship on the 53-man roster means that Indy extends their remarkable NFL record as it pertains to undrafted free agent success. This marks 22 consecutive years with a UDFA on their initial roster for Week 1, and they couldn’t have found a more beloved one this time around.
Naturally, the record streak is in good hands with Chris Ballard.
Don’t let the spectacles and goofy cult hero status fool you, either. Blankenship has plenty of bonafides, and will fit right in on an emergent Colts roster. The kid’s got a career-high 55-yarder under his belt already (vs. Oklahoma) and won the 2019 Lou Groza Award before waltzing right onto this roster.
He had the records to back up his performance, and he earned it. Hopefully, this question mark on the roster just got cemented with aplomb.
