The Green Bay Packers are betting big on keeping Brandon McManus as their kicker – but is this loyalty turning into a costly mistake that could derail their season?
Picture this: In a sport where every point counts, the Packers' kicker, Brandon McManus, is having a rough go of it outside the red zone, hitting just three out of nine field goals this year. His overall field goal percentage sits at a dismal 64.7%, ranking him dead last among NFL kickers who qualify for the stats (check out the details at https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/player/_/view/special/stat/kicking/table/kicking/sort/fieldGoalPct/dir/desc). And get this – despite nailing 20 out of 21 attempts in his rookie year with Green Bay in 2024, he's on track to underperform the guy he took over for last season, Brayden Narveson (for a deeper dive, see https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/green-bay-packers-analysis/74115/brandon-mcmanus-2025-season-compares-to-brayden-narvesons-2024).
But here's where it gets controversial: Even with all these misses piling up, the Packers seem dead set on sticking with McManus. Head coach Matt LaFleur, speaking to reporters on Wednesday – his first media chat since Monday's post-game session – shut down questions about possibly sidelining McManus in favor of Lucas Havrisik, who's still on the team's active 53-man roster. His straightforward reply? "No, we're confident with Brandon." When pressed on that league-worst field goal accuracy, LaFleur offered some insight: "I know. I think some of those situations were, like the other one the other night, that’s a tough situation to be in. I would say the day-to-day that we experience and watch and evaluate across the street, so. We’re going to put more stock into the practice, and then, ultimately, you have to go out there and perform on gameday."
Now, to really understand what's going on with these kicks, we can look at something called expected points added, or EPA for short. This metric helps us evaluate field goals more fairly by factoring in things like the distance from the goalposts and the situation of the kick – for instance, a short 19-yard field goal from close to the end zone isn't as challenging as a long 68-yard attempt from the middle of the field. It's like comparing apples to oranges; raw percentages don't tell the full story because they treat every kick the same. Beginners, think of EPA as a way to score how much value a kick adds to your team's chances of winning, accounting for how tough the shot really was.
So, when we apply EPA to McManus's season and compare his kicks based on their difficulty, where does he stack up among NFL kickers? Shockingly, he's 38th out of 40 who have even attempted one kick in 2025. To put that in perspective, an average kicker in the league would have been expected to add about 10 more points than McManus has so far – and that's a huge deal, especially since the Packers have dropped three games this year, each by just three points. In every single one of those losses, McManus missed a kick that, if made, would have at least pushed the game into overtime. And don't forget the tie against the Dallas Cowboys, where he also botched a PAT due to a block (for more on that, head to https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/green-bay-packers-news/71906/green-bay-packers-news-matt-lafleur-clarifies-blame-for-blocked-pat-vs-cowboys).
Interestingly, only four other kickers in the NFL have been even half as detrimental as McManus this season: Jake Moody, John Parker Romo, Blake Grupe, and Joshua Karty. Moody got the ax from the San Francisco 49ers back in September but bounced back with the Chicago Bears. Romo is currently out of a job after the Atlanta Falcons waived him. Karty, who excelled as a kickoff specialist this year, got benched last week to make room for Harrison Mevis. The only one in McManus's league who's kept his spot all through the 2025 season is Blake Grupe with the New Orleans Saints. And this is the part most people miss – being in that rare group isn't exactly a badge of honor; it's a red flag for reliability in a high-stakes position.
Adding another layer to the drama, when questioned about comments from broadcaster Joe Buck following his Monday Night Football call (explore the full story at https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/green-bay-packers-news/74339/the-packers-story-about-brandon-mcmanus-isnt-lining-up), LaFleur addressed whether McManus should be held out due to health concerns. Buck had noted that McManus revealed he was only "semi-healthy" for the first time in Week 10, stemming from a quad injury suffered against the Cowboys back in Week 4. The coach's take? "It’s always a discussion. Our process is that you have to go through medical first and then the player has a say so in where he’s at. The conversations I’ve had with him have been positive, that ‘Hey, I’m ready to go.’ Obviously, then the performance aspect, in regards to how they perform at practice. He’s done well at practice, so that’s how I have to make a decision."
Here's something else that's sparking debate: The Packers are the sole team in the NFL that keeps two kickers active on their 53-man roster. Personally, I wonder if we can fully trust a kicker to be honest about their fitness when admitting an injury might mean losing their starting role. Either way, Green Bay's staff has been insisting for weeks that McManus is in top shape, brushing off his errors with the classic line that "kickers miss kicks" (as echoed on X by Rob Demovsky at https://x.com/RobDemovsky/status/1982903434589376740).
But is this blind faith in practice reps and conversations the right call, or should the Packers prioritize cold, hard game-day results? What do you think – does sticking with McManus despite the stats show admirable loyalty, or is it a stubborn oversight that's hurting the team? Could there be unseen factors, like team chemistry or unseen injuries, that justify the decision? Share your opinions in the comments – let's debate whether the Packers' strategy will pay off or backfire!
