Doug Pederson likes Brandon McManus’ experience at kicker
Last week, the Jaguars swapped kickers when they signed former Bronco Brandon McManus and dropped Riley Patterson.
Patterson connected on 30 of his 35 field goals last season and 36-of-37 extra points. But the Jaguars still elected to go in a different direction.
“First of all, I can’t say enough about Riley and what he did for us last year,” head coach Doug Pederson said in a Tuesday press conference. “Obviously, it was a huge kick in the Chargers game at the end of the year to get us to the divisional round. Obviously, wish him the best.
“You guys know how Trent [Baalke] and I feel — anytime you can add a player like Brandon who’s going into his 10th year with the experience he has, [plus] an opportunity to get something for Riley too, it’s not like it was just a total wash out there. But at least be able to get a pick for Riley and actually keep him in the NFL and keep him kicking back in Detroit where he came from and stared. It was just an opportunity to get better as a football team and we’re always going to look to do that. It’s just unfortunate that when you’re at 90 guys, you have to make these types of decisions to move on.”
While McManus has been aided by the high altitude playing in Denver, he’s still got the leg strength to kick long field goals. Patterson has only attempted four FGs from at least 50 yards, with three coming last year. That’s a factor in why McManus became Jacksonville’s choice.
“That’s something we’ve got to see with Brandon, with his pedigree and his experience. But I think that’s yet to be seen. There is a comfort level, obviously, as a decision-maker to put a kicker out there. When we look at some of the top kickers around the league, you cross the 50, 45, 40, you’re into field goal range. So, obviously we’re going to take a look at that this spring and training camp and see how that plays out.”
McManus was 28-of-36 on field goals last year with Denver. He’s connected on 81.4 percent of his attempts in his nine-year career.
Doug Pederson likes Brandon McManus’ experience at kicker originally appeared on Pro Football Talk
