Kicking It

Looks like Kirby is on to something:

Georgia appears to be trying out that route once again. Russellville, Kentucky native Landon Stratton announced via his personal Facebook page on Sunday that he intends on joining the Bulldogs' team.
“After a long past few months, I’ve never been more excited to announce that I will be continuing my football and academic career at the University of Georgia,” Stratton said.
"Thank you to everyone who stuck with me during this process, and a bigger thank you to those that left. I'm so thankful for all the love from my family, friends, and coaches during this time. I'm excited for the opportunity and can't wait to get to work!"
Starting the past three seasons for Murray State, Stratton has averaged 41.2 yards per punt, earning third-team Ohio Valley Conference honors last season. Nizialek averaged 45 yards per punt last season for Georgia, ninth best among FBS punters. Stratton has 212 career punts, none of which were blocked,  41 of which traveled 50 yards or more, 18 of which went for touchbacks, and 51 of which were fair caught. 

First, if you are getting depth for no ding on your scholarship numbers, great. The competition, especially from someone who has punted 212 times in live game action, is good. If he pays off as an improvement over the punters currently on the roster, that is a bonus.

Second, fostering a model where very good, but unheralded, special teams players can come to Georgia as graduate transfers and get a year playing on the high visibility stage that UGA football promises is brilliant. There are currently over 300 non-FBS football programs, many that aren't in markets that the NFL scouts. Being in a position to encourage top special teams players with proven game tape to spend a year in Athens, with the payoff of having the kind of media attention that comes with it, is a win-win.

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