ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For the first time in nearly a decade, the Denver Broncos have uncertainty at their kicker position.
The Broncos’ summer series of 9 issues for Broncos Country to consider continues with:
No. 7: Who will be the kicker?
Unless the NFL decides to change the rules so that every place kicker must utilize the Jim Turner straight-ahead style, the Broncos’ field goal man for the 2023 season is probably not on their current roster.
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Elliott Fry won the team’s kicker audition last month following the release of Brandon McManus, but that was so the Broncos could conduct special teams drills during the final two weeks of OTAs and three-day minicamp. Fry still has a chance to win the job but he will have to improve on what he showed during his offseason stint, especially in terms of length.
Fry and another veteran kicker who had a minicamp tryout with the Broncos, Randy Bullock, each nailed straight-on, 9-yard, indoor field goals in homage to Turner, the Broncos’ Ring of Fame straight-on placekicker from the 1970s who passed away a couple days prior to minicamp.
“We looked a little better kicking straight-on than we did with the soccer-style attempts,’’ half-quipped Sean Payton, the Broncos’ head coach who arranged the in-practice tribute to Turner.
This will be the first training camp since 2015, when the strong-legged McManus beat out the accurate-but-less-strong Connor Barth, that the Broncos have an issue at the kicker position. McManus held the job through last season and mostly kicked well during his time here, which is why he quickly found new employment with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Making that transaction was a tough call,’’ said Ben Kotwica, the Broncos’ new special teams coordinator. “I think there was a lot of thought going into that. … He’s done a lot of great things, but that’s part of the business. Transactions occur, and there will be more transactions. We wish him nothing but the best.
“Going to Jacksonville, I think that’s a great spot for him. I know he has a home in Florida. We’re excited about the guys we have in Elliott and Randy. We’ll see how this takes fold as we move forward to the season.”
Bullock was not signed to the Broncos’ roster following his recent tryout but there’s a chance he or another kicker will be brought in to compete with Fry during training camp.
There’s also a good chance the Broncos’ placekicker in 2023 will be one who is either a free agent (Robbie Gould, Mason Crosby, Ryan Succop, Brett Maher) or will be cut after the preseason.
There are 13 teams with two placekickers on their offseason, 90-man rosters: New England (Nick Folk, Chad Ryland), Los Angeles Chargers (Cameron Dicker, Dustin Hopkins), San Francisco (Zane Gonzalez, Jake Moody), Pittsburgh (Chris Boswell, P.T. Potter), Chicago (Cairo Santos, Andre Szmyt), Detroit (Michael Badgley, Riley Patterson), Minnesota (Greg Joseph, Jake Podlesny), Indianapolis (Matt Gay, Lucas Havrisik), Jacksonville (McManus, James McCourt), Tennessee (Caleb Shudak, Trey Wolff), Atlanta (Younghoe Koo, Matthew Trickett), New Orleans (Wil Lutz, Blake Grupe) and Tampa Bay (Rodrigo Blankenship, Chase McLaughlin).
Those teams eventually will only keep one for their season-opening, 53-man rosters. The Broncos could be in a Toro! Toro! hurry-up situation as they find their kicker for their season-opening game Sept. 10 against the Raiders.
The other two summer-series issues 9NEWS has considered for Broncos Country:
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