2020 NFL Draft kicker and punter rankings: Georgia's Rodrigo Blankenship headlines the group

Let's take a look at the prospects you should know as we head into draft season

Punters are people too. So are kickers. 

While it seems to not be the best allocation of draft capital to pick either position, two kickers were selected in each of the past two drafts and before a pair of punters were chosen in 2019, four were grabbed in the 2018 draft.

The prospect rankings below are based on the CBS Sports composite rankings.

Kickers

1. Rodrigo Blankenship, PK, Georgia

Blankenship has a booming leg and made six of nine kicks of 50-plus yards during his career at Georgia. He connected on nearly 93% of his attempts under 40 yards. However, in 2019, he missed six kicks, so he's entering the NFL without loads of momentum.

2. Dominik Eberle, PK, Utah State

While he didn't have the illustrious career of Blankenship, Eberle improved his statistics in each of his four seasons kicking for the Aggies. He made 87.5% of his kicks during his senior season, including hitting on eight of 10 from 40-plus yards. He did miss his only attempt of 50-plus though.

3. Tyler Bass, PK, Georgia Southern

Bass has a monster leg, which  he showed off at the Senior Bowl in January. As a junior, he made 90.5% of his kicks and only missed one of his three attempts from 50-plus yards. During that awesome season, Bass made all eight of attempts in the 40-yard range. Then, as a senior, he only made 20 of 28 attempts (71.4%) and missed five of his 13 kicks in the 40-yard range along with a lone miss from 50-plus.

4. Cooper Rothe, PK, Wyoming

Rothe took a step back in 2019 after being a finalist for the Lou Groza award the year prior, when he missed just one field goal attempt in 17 tries; otherwise, he might be able to challenge Blankenship for top honors at the position. Instead, he'll likely look to sign on after the draft to a spot with an open kicking competition.

Punters

1. Braden Mann, P, Texas A&M

On 50 punts in 2018, Mann averaged a whopping 51 yards per punt. As a senior, his average dropped to 47.1, but Mann's booming leg will put him on the draft radar.   

2. Michael Turk, P, Arizona State

Turk is a boom-or-bust punter, who'll shank a few then blast a bomb 60 or even 70 yards down the field. He's the nephew of long-time NFL punter Matt Turk. In 2019, Turk averaged 46 yards per punt and had three punts of over 60 yards along with a 75-yarder in the opening game of the season.

3. Joseph Charlton, P, South Carolina

Charlton is a good mix of a direction and distance punter, and he finished his career at South Carolina strongly by averaging 47.7 yards per punt. He boomed three punts more than 60 yards in 2019 and has a large frame at 6-foot-5.

4. Tommy Townsend, P, Florida

More of a directional punter than someone who'll launch a 60-yarder on occasion, Townsend, the brother of punting legend Johnny Townsend, will need to demonstrate pinpoint precision during training camp and preseason to make a roster. He averaged 44.0 yards per punt in 2019 after 45.3 in 2018.