Getty Chiefs kicker Elliott Fry celebrates.
The Denver Broncos officially kicked off rookie minicamp on Friday, May 13. According to Broncos’ team reporter Aric DiLalla, two kickers will participate in the minicamp as tryout players: Elliott Fry and Hunter Duplessis.
Currently, the Broncos only have one kicker on their roster, Brandon McManus. It makes sense to look for a backup heading into training camp.
Rookie minicamp will run from Friday to Saturday.
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Fry Has Had an Interesting Journey in the NFL
Fry had a prolific college career at the University of South Carolina. In fact, he is the Gamecocks’ all-time leading scorer with 359 points.
At South Carolina, Fry was remarkably efficient making 161 out of 162 extra-point attempts. In 2016, he made a 55-yard game-winner against Vanderbilt.
Fry was not selected in the 2017 NFL draft. He played for the Orlando Apollos in the Alliance of American Football (AAF), where he made all 14 of his field-goal attempts.
Fry was then signed by the Chicago Bears, but he was waived before ever seeing the field. He then bounced around the league spending time with the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Fry was signed to the Atlanta Falcons‘ practice squad on October 1, 2020. He was elevated to the active roster shortly after, and he saw his first NFL regular-season action. In his lone appearance with the Falcons, he made his only field goal attempt, which was from 23 yards.
After spending about a year on the Falcons’ practice squad, Fry was waived. He was then signed by the Kansas City Chiefs. In one game with the Chiefs, Fry made three out of four field-goal attempts; his longest make was from 44 yards.
His last NFL action came on January 9 as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals; he made his only field goal attempt.
Fry has moved around the NFL a lot, as he has been a member of eight different teams since 2019. Through November of the 2021 season, he had already appeared on the Falcons’ transaction wire 14 times.
Fry spoke to ESPN’s Michael Rothstein about his constant movement on the transaction wire. “I joke with my friends and family about it, just getting fired every week,” Fry said. “There’s always the flip side of I’ve been hired five times in the last six weeks. I guess it’s glass half-empty, half-full.”
Duplessis Was Excellent at UTSA
Duplessis had a strong college career at UTSA. In 2021, he broke the school’s single-season records for field goals made (24) and extra points made (63).
Like Fry, Duplessis was deadly accurate on extra-point attempts. During his college career, Duplessis made 128 out of his 129 extra-point attempts.
However, Duplessis was not selected in the 2022 NFL draft. Rookie minicamp will be his first opportunity to make an NFL roster.
Earlier in the offseason, the Broncos brought in seven tryout players for voluntary veteran minicamp, and they ended up signing three of those players to the active roster (cornerback Blessuan Austin, cornerback Donnie Lewis Jr., wide receiver Trey Quinn).