For every theory about Jay Feely there’s one about Garrett Hartley. Or Alex Henery. Or Shayne Graham. All are rumored to be coming into Pittsburgh tomorrow to audition for the Steelers now vacant place kicking job.
The position became available in last night’s Hall of Fame Game loss when Shaun Suisham tore his ACL on a kickoff. It’s expected that “Sushi” will miss the entire season.
Two other names to keep an eye however outside the usual free agent, garage sale offerings are the two guys out in Denver who are battling for the that team’s kicking duties. On one side you have Connor Barth, an eight-year veteran who has kicked for Kansas City, Tampa Bay and for one game in Denver last season.
Barth is competing against second year kicker Brandon McManus who played in 15 games last season or the Broncos. The Temple product was a perfect 41 of 41 in his PATs while he connected on nine of 13 field goal attempts. That’s a percentage of 69.2%
For the veteran Barth, his career field goal accuracy is 85.3% on 113 makes out of 136 attempts. Like McManus, he’s also perfect in career extra points. He’s connected on all 149 of his PATs.
When looking for a kicker, the Steelers have to consider accuracy within that 30-40 yard range because PATs will now be tried from 33 yards out. Barth is 31 of 35 in his career from that range while McManus is just two for three.
The other factor the Mike Tomlin and the Steelers have to keep in mind is that the south end zone at Heinz Field now has a heck of a lot more blocking the winds coming off the river. With the offseason addition of new seats, that means less to deal with in terms of the conditions.
I believe the Steelers will sign one of those guys mentioned in the opening but don’t be surprised if they look hard at the competition in Denver.
