Brandon McManus

McManus was Denver's kicker the past nine years and missed only two games, but he's never converted more than 30 field goals or 41 PATs in a season. And while his middling 81.4 percent career conversion rate on FGs might partially be a product of getting a lot of attempts from long distance, it's also true that he's had the altitude in Colorado helping him on many of those kicks. Now we'll see how he fares near sea level, as the Jaguars pounced after the Broncos released McManus in May to cut costs. The veteran kicker should stay busy if Jacksonville's offense continues to progress in Year 2 of the Trevor Lawrence - Doug Pederson marriage.

McManus converted 83.8 percent of his field-goal attempts in 2021, his fourth consecutive season higher than 80 percent and sixth in his eight-year career. He's known for his big leg, and the Broncos perhaps ask too much of their kicker given that 12 of McManus’ 16 misses the last three seasons have come from 50-plus yards. An improved offense could mean more attempts from close range, in addition to more PATs.

Despite setting an NFL record with 15 FGAs of 50-plus yards, McManus finished only T-11th in fantasy points and ninth in PPG last season, ranking 26th in extra-point tries. The Broncos have a better roster this year, but quarterback is still a likely weakness — unless the team acquires the discontented Aaron Rodgers — and it's not like McManus was all that good before 2020. His career FG percentage is 81.6, including 27 of 50 (54 percent) from 50-plus yards.

McManus remains solid but unspectacular, working on five consecutive seasons with a field-goal conversion rate between 75 and 86 percent. His volume skewed toward PATs in 2018, but it shifted back to FGs in 2019 as the Broncos finished 28th in red-zone touchdown rate. The addition of Melvin Gordon could help near the goal line, but the bigger picture still revolves around Drew Lock's development at QB.

McManus has a strong leg that theoretically gets a boost from altitude at home, but he's rarely taken advantage, with just 13 field goals from 50-plus yards on 28 career attempts. He even has a better field-goal percentage in road games (83.6) than home games (78.6), though neither is impressive. The Broncos released Taylor Bertolet during the first week of training camp, locking McManus in for another season as their kicker.

After missing five field goals the first five weeks of last season, McManus rebounded to convert 16 of 19 attempts the rest of the way, falling more in line with his respectable track record. Oddly enough, his career conversion rate is 11 percentage points higher on the road, though it may just be a matter of limited sample (four seasons). McManus probably isn't good enough to be useful unless Case Keenum excels.

The Broncos ranked 28th in red-zone TD conversion rate last year, which led McManus to finish one field-goal attempt short of tying his career high. Unfortunately, kicking in high altitude didn't help, as he made three of six tries from 50-plus yards. His PATs also were down slightly from the year before as he finished 17th in scoring. The Broncos' offense could improve this year if Jamaal Charles is healthy and Trevor Siemian (or Paxton Lynch) takes a leap, but it's unlikely to be enough to move McManus into a higher tier of fantasy kickers.

The thin mile-high air in Denver always makes Broncos kickers of interest for fantasy players, as the ball travels farther and allows for more attempts from deep. That being said, the number of attempts from that distance in Denver doesn't actually outpace the rest of the league, as only once in the last three years has a Broncos kicker led the league in attempts from at least 50 yards, and that came in 2013 and ended in a six-way tie for first with seven attempts. The Broncos have finished 11th in kicker scoring both of the last two seasons, and with the offense not expected to be as good as the past few years, it may be tough for McManus to move up a tier.

McManus was the Broncos' kicker at the beginning of last season as a placeholder for Matt Prater, who was suspended for the first four regular-season games. However, McManus held onto the job, as the Broncos let Prater and his significantly bigger contract go. Unfortunately, McManus didn't have nearly enough success to hold down the job, and the Broncos brought in Connor Barth to take over. Barth will handle field goal and PAT duties this season, while McManus will be on the field for kickoffs.

McManus is expected to step in as the Broncos' kicker for the first four games while Matt Prater serves his suspension.