Should Brandon McManus Transition To Punter?
By Tylor Walden
Jan 11, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus (8) against the Indianapolis Colts in the 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Colts defeated the Broncos 24-13. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Broncos currently have four specialists on the roster as far as kicking a football is concerned. Brandon McManus was the team’s primary placekicker until his abysmal performance landed him out of Denver in place of Connor Barth.
However, he was brought back once it was revealed that Connor Barth has his own challenges as far as kickoffs were concerned. So, in the end, the Broncos ended the season with three kickers.
Gary Kubiak does not want that for his team in 2015. So, what should the team do?
A few days ago, I wrote about how Karl Schmitz made sense for the Broncos in 2015. He is on par with Britton Colquitt in the punting competition and as most of Broncos Country has seen, he is solid on kickoffs and field goals.
A comment was made on that article by Shelby T. Mitchell and it provided a very interesting discussion for this article.
“How about maybe Brandon McManus who was a Punter at Temple Punting and Kicking Off?” — Shelby T Mitchell
Jan 11, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus (8) against the Indianapolis Colts in the 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Colts defeated the Broncos 24-13. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
In all honesty, I never knew that Brandon McManus was a punter at Temple University. Aside from my lack of knowledge on that situation, this is a very interesting point. What if the Broncos took Brandon McManus and had him compete for the punter job?
Just that alone could make for a very interesting training camp at Dove Valley. Let us look at the pros and cons of how having Brandon McManus punting the ball instead of kicking field goals could impact the team as a whole.
As I have stated before, Brandon McManus was a punter during his college career at Temple University. During that time, he recorded an average of 45.1 yards per punt and pinned 17 of them from inside the 20 yard line. If you compare that to Britton Colquitt for his career, Brandon McManus is only 0.4 yards behind Colquitt. In fact, Brandon McManus’ average at Temple was better than Colquitt’s last two seasons in Denver.
If Brandon McManus was to perform better as a punter than a kicker, that could be another member on the roster that could threaten Britton Colquitt’s future with the Broncos. This would also allow Karl Schmitz to focus on field goals. As we have seen, he can boot from 60-70 yards on field goals. Of course, it is different than in a game, but it would give the team hope.
Having Brandon McManus punting and Karl Schmitz kicking field goals could be an ideal situation. However, the only issue with that would be if the Broncos are willing to let both of these men do those jobs? The Broncos have said they only want Karl Schmitz to focus on punting. And I would assume they want Brandon McManus to focus on kicking field goals.
Connor Barth was not a bad kicker for the Broncos during the 2014 season, so unless something changes, that would be another con is that I do not see Gary Kubiak’s staff letting Connor Barth walk.
All I can say is that the special teams as a whole is going to be a very interesting unit to watch during training camp. It is anyone’s spot to lose at this point. Gary Kubiak will put out the best players for the job on the field. As long as that is the case I will be happy.
Could we see Brandon McManus punt footballs instead of kicking field goals in 2015? We will have to wait and see.