ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Fairly quickly after studying the Broncos team he inherited, new head coach Sean Payton decided a step toward a better 2023 was to improve the special teams.
Mike Westhoff, four years retired from his long career as an NFL special teams coordinator -- and 75 years old -- was brought back as a special teams guru. It’s the second time Payton pulled Westhoff out of a four-year retirement. Westhoff first stepped away after the 2012 season with the Jets, took four years off, then ran Payton’s special teams in New Orleans from 2017-18.
Call Westhoff by whatever title you wish – consultant, advisor, or as he is formally known by the Broncos, assistant head coach of special teams -- but during the rookie minicamp practice Saturday, he was the one running around on the field barking instructions and directing running lanes. Westhoff was clearly in charge.
Ben Kotwica, who as Westhoff’s assistant for six seasons with the Jets from 2007-12, is the Broncos’ special teams coordinator. And Chris Banjo, a special teams standout player for 10 years, including the 2017-18 seasons for Westhoff and Payton in New Orleans, was hired as a special teams assistant.
Three special teams coaches? That’s one more than usual but some of that is part of the grand plan where Westhoff and Kotwica can help groom Banjo as a coach in case Westhoff decides after this season to ride off into the sunset for a third time.
Besides a three-man special teams coaching staff, the Broncos also changed up their punter and holder, long snapper and two returners from last season. Here’s a look at Broncos’ special teams heading into the 2023 season:
Kicker
Brandon McManus
An example of the maxim “good is the enemy of great.”
McManus is a good kicker and has been for a long time. He has been the lone holdover from the Broncos’ 2015 Super Bowl 50 championship team for going on two years. But he did not have a good season in 2022 as he went through a new holder in Corliss Waitman and two long snappers in Jacob Bobenmoyer and Mitch Fraboni, before going back to Bobenmoyer again.
That’s a huge factor for a kicker. New head coach Sean Payton indicated he wanted a better holder this year and the Broncos rescinded their exclusive rights offer to Waitman and brought back Riley Dixon – for both punting and holding reasons. The Broncos also decided to replace Bobenmoyer with Fraboni.
And coaching matters. Blocked kicks count as misses and better-coached special teams should also help McManus.
Now, it’s up to McManus. His 77.8 field-goal percentage ranked 29th last season. After missing just three extra points in his first six seasons (195 of 198), McManus was charged with six misses in the last three seasons (82 of 88).
With McManus drawing a non-guaranteed, $3.75 million salary that ranks 8th among kickers this year, there was speculation his job status might be vulnerable. The Broncos’ brass knew better. You don’t drop a proven good kicker hoping to find the next Justin Tucker. Such moves usually wind up with a team going through four or five kickers before realizing it's trying to find the next Brandon McManus.
Punter
Riley Dixon
A better-than-average NFL punter, Dixon is also a top flight athlete – especially when it comes to passing the ball. And Westhoff likes to mix in a fake or two a season as a way to keep the punt rush honest.
Dixon was drafted out of Syracuse in the 7th round by the Broncos in 2016, when he finished 16th in gross average and 9th in net. Those rankings flipped in 2017 as he was 22nd in net punting and 14th in gross.
General manager John Elway wanted better, especially at altitude, and he gave up on Dixon by trading him to the Giants in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick. The Broncos wound up with Marquette King and Colby Wadman as their punters in 2018 while Dixon was the Giants’ punter the next four seasons (“the enemy of good … “)
Dixon reunited with former Broncos special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis with the Los Angeles Rams last year and finished 11th in gross-average but 22nd in net. Still, Dixon was viewed by the Broncos’ special teams staff as a more consistent punter than Waitman and better holder for McManus.
Long snapper
Mitch Fraboni
When Bobenmoyer suffered a fracture at the base of the thumb in game 5 against the Colts that required surgery, Fraboni won a long-snapper tryout to replace him. Fraboni did a nice job for four games but then suffered his own fractured finger injury and missed the rest of the season. Fraboni, 26, is the only long snapper on the Broncos’ 90-man offseason roster so the job is his – so long as he convinces the special teams staff there is no longer any need for long-snapper tryouts.
Kickoff returner
Tremon Smith
A five-year NFL kick returner for Kansas City, Green Bay, Indianapolis and Houston, Smith has returns of 97 and 98 yards and a solid, 24.7-yard career average. Also a good backup cornerback, he signed with the Broncos as a free agent on a two-year contract that will pay him $2.5 million this year. So he will play and he will return.
Punt returner
Marvin Mims Jr.
Rookie returners almost always struggle because of the pronounced height on NFL punts compared to college, but the Broncos believe Mims may be an exception. He averaged an impressive 16.0 yards per punt return last season for Oklahoma and 11.8 yards off 33 returns in his three years for the Sooners.
Gone but not forgotten
Jacob Bobenmoyer, Corliss Waitman
Undrafted out of Northern Colorado, Bobenmoyer was the Broncos’ long snapper the previous three seasons. After becoming a non-tendered restricted free agent, Bobenmoyer reunited with special teams coordinator Tom McMahon in Las Vegas.
Waitman is a terrific story, a Dutch- and English-speaking, Netherlands-raised youth soccer player who didn’t start punting until his junior year in high school. Bouncing around for a couple years on the Friday lefty punter tryout circuit, the Broncos decided to take his potential over proven veteran Sam Martin last year.
Waitman flashed a big leg at times last season – earning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week following a 10-punt, week 3 win against San Francisco -- but seemed fatigued by season’s end as his punts started traveling low and down the middle. The Broncos let him go after signing Dixon in late-March with New England coach Bill Belichick – who loves left-footed punters – picking up Waitman the next day.
Here but not forgotten
Montrell Washington
Considered one of the top returners in last year’s draft, the Broncos outmaneuvered multiple teams who were interested in the Samford star by selecting Washington with a fifth-round pick.
But Washington struggled mightily, especially on kickoff returns. He was showing improvement in punt returns but he was pulled from the final two games by interim head coach Jerry Rosburg.
With a little coaching from the Broncos’ new special teams staff, Washington could re-emerge this year. But he’s a bigger underdog for a return role in year 2 than he was entering his rookie season.
Key to 2023
The Broncos need improvement in every area of special teams. McManus has to kick better. Dixon has to be more consistent than Waitman was. Tremon Smith and Mims must return better than Washington did. And they need better special teams coaching.
If the Broncos can finish in the middle of the league’s pack in special teams instead of near the bottom, they will be a better team overall.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Sports