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Get to know the Chargers' Twitter kicking sensation

Undrafted rookie Younghoe Koo could push incumbent Josh Lambo in camp. Bobby McDuffie/Icon Sportswire

With the release of kicker Josh Lambo on Saturday, Sept. 2, the Chargers will rely on undrafted rookie Younghoe Koo. Here's a profile of Koo from May 2017.

SAN DIEGO -- Kicker will be one of several jobs up for grabs when the Los Angeles Chargers open training camp in a little more than two months at their new home in Costa Mesa, California.

The Chargers signed undrafted rookie Younghoe Koo out of Georgia Southern just after the draft to compete for the starting place-kicker job with incumbent Josh Lambo.

In this ESPN Insider story, draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. identifies Koo as one of 25 undrafted rookies who have a chance to make a team’s final roster during training camp.

Koo was Kiper’s third-ranked kicker in this year’s draft. The Georgia Southern product will battle it out against Lambo, who has converted just 81.3 percent of his field goals over the past two seasons, 29th in the NFL over that time frame.

Lambo has a strong leg. The Texas A&M’s product led the NFL in touchbacks last season with 67.

However, Lambo had a field goal and three extra points blocked in 2016 and sailed four kickoffs out of bounds during the year. Lambo was 0-for-3 on field goals from beyond 50 yards last season.

Koo missed only one field goal at Georgia Southern last season (19-of-20), a 54-yarder. Koo made eight kicks of 40 or more yards during his career at Georgia Southern.

And as a defensive back in high school, Koo finished with six interceptions and 59 tackles during his senior year at Ridgewood High in New Jersey, so he should be able to cover kicks.

Chargers special teams coordinator George Stewart will get his first look at Koo during his team’s rookie minicamp, which begins on Friday at Chargers Park.

“I’ve always had competition for kickers and punters in camp because you can find that diamond in the rough,” Stewart said earlier this year. “I had a young man named Michael Husted years ago in Tampa. We drafted a young kicker [Daron Alcorn]. We brought Michael in as a free agent and he ended up getting the job. So it’s always good to have competition.”

A finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation’s top kicker, Koo finished his career at Georgia Southern making 31 of 35 field goals (88.6 percent), including a long of 53 yards.

Koo created a stir on Twitter after the draft when fans got a look at a video of him making a kick while doing a backflip.

Before the draft, Stewart mentioned that Lambo and punter Drew Kaser could have some competition this offseason. Lambo seemed to perform better during his rookie season when he had to compete for the job with incumbent Nick Novak.

Stewart said making players earn their jobs is important.

“Accountability is huge, regardless if you are in coaching, you’re in management and business or making pies and cakes,” Stewart said. “Obviously, the players have to know that, because if I’m going to be accountable as a coach, they have to be accountable as a player.

“And that means being to meetings on time and doing the thing to be successful on game days. And if you’re not getting it done, repercussions come. There’s a lot of guys on the street that weren’t accountable.”