The Denver Broncos made a roster move yesterday. They released kicker Connor Barth to make room for guard Evan Mathis. This means Brandon McManus won the job to be the Broncos’ kicker.
This is the same situation as last year for the Broncos when they cut Matt Prater. Prater was suspended for the first four games last year. They thought McManus showed them enough to be their kicker. The problem was he wasn’t accurate with his kicks. McManus was just 9 of 13 kicking field goals. Between 20 and 29-yards he couldn’t miss, going 5 for 5 but couldn’t connect on field goals from 30 to 50-yards where he was 4 of 8. That’s 50%. A kicker from that distance should be able to make at least 80% to 85% of his kicks. He wasn’t getting the job done. In week 13, Denver made a switch and signed Connor Barth after McManus missed a 33-yard attempt. All Connor did was make field goals. He only missed one field goal the rest of the year. McManus was kept as the kickoff specialist.
Denver only wanted a kicker and a punter. This meant a battle between Connor Barth and Brandon McManus. In two preseason games, McManus made three field goals. His longest was 52-yards. Barth didn’t miss but his longest was only 28-yards. Denver decided to go with the stronger leg.
This is a gamble. Last year McManus wasn’t reliable and couldn’t make field goals. Denver, in preseason games and practice must have liked what they saw to take another chance on him. If he starts missing field goals between 30 and 49-yards, Denver will need to bring another kicker in.
Denver won’t be able to re-sign Connor Barth. He already agreed to a two-year contract with the Buccaneers. The Broncos are hoping that McManus learned from last year. The regular season will decide if the Broncos made the right decision.
What do you think of Denver’s decision to keep Brandon McManus and release Connor Barth?
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