What a difference a year makes at kicker for the Green Bay Packers. At this point last year, Matt LaFleur’s team was holding an underwhelming and uninspiring competition featuring Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph. Fast forward to this year, and unchallenged veteran Brandon McManus has enjoyed a perfect start through three days of training camp.
According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, McManus — who turned 34 years old on Friday — connected on all nine kicks at Friday’s practice in Green Bay, including three makes over 50 yards. He’s now 15/15 on kicks since the start of training camp.
McManus hit a pair of 51-yard field goals to end two-minute periods, and he also connected on a camp-long kick of 56 yards. Overall, McManus has made seven kicks of at least 45 yards during three days of open practices.
Last season, McManus arrived in October and immediately stabilized the kicker position, making 20 of 21 field goals and all 30 extra points during the regular season. Among his makes were a game-winner against the Texans and a game-winner against the Jaguars in back-to-back games to begin his Packers career.
While McManus missed a field goal in the Packers’ loss to the Eagles in the postseason, keeping him for 2025 and beyond was a no-brainer decision, especially after the struggles of last summer, and the Packers moved quickly to re-sign the veteran kicker on a three-year deal before the start of free agency.
Last August, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst had to take drastic action at kicker, claiming rookie Brayden Narveson off waivers after final cuts when the Carlson-Joseph competition failed to provide an answer. The Narveson experiment lasted only six games before McManus arrived and saved the day. Barring injury, no such action will be required from Gutekunst in 2025. McManus has turned kicks from anxiety-ridden to automatic.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Veteran K Brandon McManus enjoys perfect start to Packers training camp
Reporting by Zach Kruse, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
