Players not named Russell Wilson critical to Broncos' success in 2023
3. Brandon McManus, K
I am surprised Denver did not make more of an effort to upgrade their kicker situation, but as of now, Brandon McManus, who is the lone holdover from the Super Bowl 50 team, is slated to once again be the placekicker for the Denver Broncos.
To be blunt, he was abysmal in 2022, making less than 80% of his kicks. I think he's extremely critical to Denver's success in 2023 because I believe the Broncos will be in many more close games with tougher opponents, and it may end up coming down to McManus being able to make kicks to tie the game or take the lead.
We have seen him do this on many occasions throughout the years, but his 2022 season really makes me uneasy. He has had a couple of above-average seasons where he's made more than 82-83% of his kicks, and I think we'll need to see that in 2023. I would hate for the team to have played a good enough game to win only to have the kicker whiff a field goal that would have closed it out.