Blake Gillikin

Blake Thomas Gillikin (born January 21, 1998) is an American football punter for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State.

Blake Gillikin
Gillikin in 2021
Gillikin with the Saints in 2021
No. 12 – Arizona Cardinals
Position:Punter
Personal information
Born: (1998-01-21) January 21, 1998
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:196 lb (89 kg)
Career information
High school:The Westminster Schools (Atlanta, Georgia)
College:Penn State (2016–2019)
Undrafted:2020
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2023
Punts:172
Punting yards:8,120
Average punt:47.2
Longest punt:68
Inside 20:63
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

High school

A former resident of Smyrna, Georgia, Gillikin helped lead The Westminster Schools to its first Class AAA Georgia State Championship since 1978 in 2015, and was rated as a five-star punter and a five-star kicker by Kohl's Kicking Camp.

College career

A four-year starter at Penn State, Gillikin is ranked No. 2 on Penn State's career punting average charts (43.03 avg.) He landed 53 career punts downed inside the opponent's ten-yard line (seven in 2016, 18 in 2017, 12 in 2018, 15 in 2019) and is the only player in program history with seven punts of 65 or more yards. Gillikin is second all time in net punting yards in school history behind Jeremy Kapinos. In 2019, Gillikin averaged 42.2 yards per punt as was selected All-Big Ten honorable mention by the conference coaches and media. Was also selected for the CoSIDA Academic All-American first-team.[1]

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Gillikin signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent on April 27, 2020.[2] He was placed on injured reserve on September 9, 2020.[3]

Gillikin was named the Saints starting punter for the 2021 season after the team released longtime starter Thomas Morstead in the offseason.[4]

Gillikin did not receive a qualifying offer following the 2022 season and became a free agent on March 15, 2023.[5] On March 16, Gillikin re-signed with the New Orleans Saints.[6] He was waived on August 29, 2023 after losing the punting battle to Lou Hedley.[7]

Arizona Cardinals

On October 3, 2023, Gillikin was signed by the Arizona Cardinals.[8]

References
  1. "Penn State Football". Penn State Nittany Lions Athletics. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  2. "Blake Gillikin". New Orleans Saints. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  3. Williams, Charean (September 9, 2020). "Saints place backup punter on injured reserve". NBCSports.com. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  4. Sigler, John (August 24, 2021). "Blake Gillikin, Thomas Morstead's former understudy, wins Saints punter competition". Saints Wire. USA Today. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  5. "Saints make a surprising decision at the beginning of free agency". atozsports.com. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  6. Camer, Jonny (March 16, 2023). "Saints re-sign P Blake Gillikin competition". Canal Street Chronicles. SBNation.com. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  7. "New Orleans Saints announce roster moves". NewOrleansSaints.com. August 29, 2023.
  8. "Cardinals Make Roster Change At Punter". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
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