Garrett Hartley – Denver Broncos Player Bio

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Name: Garrett Hartley Height, Weight: 5’8″, 196 Position: Kicker Age, Experience: 22, R College: Oklahoma

Garrett Hartley joined the Denver Broncos as an undrafted rookie free agent kicker in April 2009. With the not-so-fond farewell of franchise kicker Jason Elam in March, the Broncos needed to address the kicker position for 2008 and beyond. Inexperienced backup Matt Prater was the only kicker on the roster, and the Broncos had a need to bring in another young leg to compete for the spot through summer camps.

The Good: Physically, Hartley is more than capable of performing at the pro level. He has tremendous leg strength, easily capable of nailing a 50-yarder, and many scouts say he has the ability to kick a 60-yard field goal with relative ease. His last two years at Oklahoma saw him make a decent 32 out of 35 field goal attempts, including 7 of 8 from 40 yards and beyond. In those two seasons, Hartley went 120 for 126 in PATs. His leg strength will also be a big asset in field position.

The Bad: He hasn’t had a lot of experience attempting field goals from beyond 40 yards, with only a single attempt (which was good) past 50 yards in the past two seasons. In 2005, Hartley made only 14 of 22 attempts, connecting on only 5 of 10 attempts past 40 yards. His decline in production from 2006 to 2007 could be due to an unconfirmed and unspecified injury he fought through that year.

Status: Competing for starting job. Matt Prater is technically the incumbent, so Hartley will have to work hard to earn the job. Garrett Hartley was born on May 16, 1986, in Southlake, Texas.

As always, we invite you, the readers, to partake. Do you trust Hartley to fill Elam’s trusty shoes, or is he too inexperienced for your tastes, with the game on the line?

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