Grupe faces another challenge to hold on to his kicking job

In a mere 19 days, the New Orleans Saints will kick off their regular season with an opener at home versus the Arizona Cardinals. There are several pressing questions surrounding this year’s squad, but kicker Blake Grupe doesn’t seem to be one of them. Grupe wears No. 19 for the team and is our Saints Player of the Day.

Name (age): Blake Grupe (26)Hometown: Sedalia, Mo.Position: PlacekickerHeight, weight: 5-foot-7, 156 poundsCollege: Notre Dame Fighting IrishRelative Athletic Score: N/ADrafted: Undrafted in 2023 (Saints)NFL experience: 2 years2025 salary cap hit: $1,030,834

Even though he didn’t begin playing football until his sophomore year at Smith-Cotton High School in Missouri, Grupe garnered interest from the Arkansas State Red Wolves. He’d redshirt as a freshman but won the kicking job a short time into the 2018 campaign. There were some struggles that season, as he missed 3 extra points and had just a 66.7% conversion rate on field goals. Grupe bounced back with force in 2019, hitting 53 of 54 extra points and hitting a conference best 86.4% of his field goal attempts, earning 1st Team All-Sun Belt Conference honors. After his field goal success rate dipped to 61% in 2020, Grupe again showed precision with an 80% success rate on field goals in 2021 while missing only one extra point. He’d transfer to Notre Dame for his final college season, hitting all of his extra points and 73.7% of his field goals for the Fighting Irish.

Grupe wasn’t selected in the 2023 NFL draft, but was signed by the Saints to compete with incumbent kicker Wil Lutz. Both kickers had a strong preseason, but New Orleans surprisingly elected to go with Grupe over the proven clutch performer Lutz. As a rookie, Grupe showed off a strong leg but also some inconsistencies. He was perfect on extra points and converted six field goals from over 50 yards. However, he was 81.1% on overall field goals with some critical misses. One such miss was a 46-yard attempt in the final seconds at Green Bay, resulting in a one-point loss and the Saints ultimately missing the playoffs on that tiebreaker.

Despite competition from rookie Charlie Smyth last season, Grupe again won the kicking job. He did miss two extra points, but was much improved with an 87.1% success rate on field goals. Included in that was a long of 57 yards and 6 for 8 on attempts from beyond 50 yards. Grupe also showed a strong leg on kickoffs, an underrated aspect of a kicker’s responsibilities.

Blake Grupe again faces a challenge from Charlie Smyth for the kicker job. Smyth has shown a tremendously strong leg, but Grupe continues to show good power of his own with still-improving accuracy. For a Saints team expected to struggle offensively early on, the team may have to depend on the range and accuracy of their kicker to put points on the board.