Kicker Matt Prater will be on the hot seat all season because he is replacing the Broncos' all-time leading scorer, Jason Elam.
But Prater is off to a fantastic start. At the end of the first full week of training camp, he wowed teammates by kicking a 59-yard field goal, then backing up and nailing a 68-yarder with room to spare.
"That would have been good at 73 or 74," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.
Prater also hit a 54-yard "game-winning" field goal at the end of practice after the offense drove the ball downfield during a two-minute drill.
Denver's decision to make a lukewarm offer to Elam, which led to his departure to Atlanta in free agency, was met with some skepticism by the players. Elam was great in the clutch for the Broncos, hitting four game-ending, game-winning field goals last season. One of the biggest challenges for the Broncos this offseason was settling the kicker situation.
Denver didn't waver much on Prater. They looked at a few veterans but never made a serious run at any of them, and undrafted rookie Garrett Hartley was cut before training camp.
Prater knew it was his job to lose, and he hopes he gained some trust in the locker room with his impressive start to camp.
"It felt good to just show the team that I can do it and give them some confidence in me so in the game when I do have a chance to have a game winner, they expect me to make it and they are not thinking 'flip a coin,'" Prater said. "I maybe got a little bit more confidence out of the team and a little more confidence in myself."
Denver is also settling a battle at punter, where the team is almost assured of having another unproven player. Brett Kern, an undrafted rookie, and Sam Paulescu are the two punters in camp. Paulescu only has one game of NFL experience.
Paulescu is a little more steady but doesn't have the long range that Kern has on his kicks. The team will probably continue to split reps between the two until one of them takes hold of the job, which is most likely to be settled in preseason games.
CAMP CALENDAR: The Broncos started training camp on July 25, and it ends on Aug. 12. Denver will then hold practices with the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 13 and 14.
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