Former Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos punter Marquette King was selected by the St. Louis BattleHawks in the supplemental round of the XFL draft last week. King will begin playing in the new league in February.
After spending the first six years of his career with the Raiders, King signed a three-year, $7 million contract with the Broncos last April. His time in Denver was shortlived due in part to a thigh injury.
Before being placed on injured reserve (and later being released), King averaged 44.1 yards per punt in four games last year with a net average of 39.7 yards per punt. He was replaced by Colby Wadman.
Wadman hasn’t exactly been a fan favorite since taking over punting duties. The second-year punter is averaging 43.8 yards per punt this season with a net average of 38.4 yards per punt. Both of those averages are below King’s totals from 2018.
Last week, King tweeted a message of support for the punter that replaced him.
King implied that the Broncos’ coaching staff had him change his punting technique last year which hurt his consistency. King seems to believe that the same thing is happening to Wadman this year.
Tom McMahon has been Denver’s special teams coordinator since 2018.
