Blake Grupe is under pressure as the New Orleans Saints’ kicker this season.
After some important misfires as a rookie, Saints kicker Blake Grupe has additional scrutiny coming into training camp.
As the New Orleans Saints began training camp in 2023, one position that many believed was safe was kicker. Wil Lutz, a veteran, was not at his best in 2022 after missing the entire previous season due to surgery. However, there were few who believed Lutz was in danger of losing his position.
Lutz, who played all six NFL seasons with the Saints, was regarded as one of the league’s most consistent kickers. He was the franchise’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (84.6%) among kickers who played numerous seasons.
With the team. Lutz is second in team history only to Hall of Famer Morten Andersen in total points, extra points, field goals over 40 and 50 yards, and successful field goals, trailing only Andersen and John Carney.
In 2022, Lutz faced several unusual challenges. He had completed only 23 of his 31 field goal attempts, for a 74.2% conversion percentage that was by far the lowest of his career. The majority of his mistakes occurred at critical situations, although it was expected that he would comeback in the 2023 season.
Last year’s training camp saw the Saints bring in an undrafted rookie kicker. The idea was that he’d simply give insurance and an additional leg for Lutz to rest. What occurred instead was one of the biggest surprises of the preseason, but it also raised worries about this year’s training camp.
Blake Grupe K. Groupe started his college career at Arkansas State. As a redshirt sophomore in 2019, he made 19 of 22 field goals, earning him first-team All-Sun Belt accolades. He’d win it again two years later, this time with 20 of 25 field goals and 31 amazing points.
Grupe transferred to Notre Dame in 2022 to finish his collegiate career. He graduated as Arkansas State’s all-time leader in extra points, field goals, and total points scored. In his one year with the Fighting Irish, Grupe made 14 of 19 field goals and all 49 extra point attempts.
Grupe instantly posed stiff challenge for Wil Lutz in training camp. Both kickers were accurate and had strong range during practice and the preseason, missing only one kick apiece. Surprisingly, the Saints traded Lutz to the Denver Broncos shortly before the start of the regular season.
Grupe now took on the kicking task and the strain of filling such enormous shoes. In the first two games, the rookie was flawless on five field goals and three extra points. New Orleans won the two games by a total four points.
In Week 3, the Saints wasted a 17-0 fourth-quarter lead in Green Bay. Grupe missed a 46-yard field goal with only a minute left in the game, resulting in a one-point loss. The loss was catastrophic, as the 9-8 Saints lost their postseason place to the 9-8 Packers due to that tiebreaker.
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