Can Cade York Be The Kicker The Cleveland Browns Need Him To Be?

It’s much too early to definitively answer the question now, but based on early indicators so far, is it possible, when all is said and done, that Cleveland Browns’ placekicker Cade York’s career may have peaked in his first NFL game?

Since that game, Cleveland’s first of the 2022 season, when York, a rookie, converted all four of his field goal attempts, including the last one, a 58-yard bullseye with 13 seconds left in the game, giving the Browns a 26-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers, York’s footwork hasn’t inspired much confidence, much less victory barking, among fans in the Browns’ famed Dawg Pound.

To the contrary.

With the start of the 2023 NFL season less than two weeks away, the state of the Browns’ placekicking situation – “Yorkgate” anyone? – has Browns fans mumbling to themselves, and Browns officials walking on eggs.

Publicly, the team still supports him. That is not a surprise because that is how these things work. Typically in the NFL, a team loyally supports its kicker right up until the day they release him.

“I think Cade is very talented,” said loyal Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. “We’ve seen it in practice. I’ve seen it at times in games. He wants to come through for the team.”

But with each misfire, fans of the team wish York to be done with the team.

It just seems like the harder York tries; the more things go awry. It’s either wide right, wide left, or blocked at the line of scrimmage.

This is not what the Browns envisioned when they selected York in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. In college, at LSU, York’s thunder foot was the stuff of legend. Tiger fans will never forget his 57-yard game-winning field goal through the fog and haze to beat Florida two years ago.

Likewise Browns fans will not forget York’s double-trouble performance late in a pre-season game this year vs. the Eagles. First he missed a 47-yard field goal, but there was a penalty. In the do-over, York missed what would have been a game-winning 41-yard field goal.

Granted, that was a preseason game that didn’t count. But that was also two more misses by York that did.

As a rookie, in his first NFL game, York’s season-opening 58-yard field goal to beat Carolina was the fifth-longest field goal in the NFL last year. Overall last year he converted 24 of 32 field goal attempts. That’s a success rate of 75%, which sounds a lot better than it is because York’s 75% success rate on field goal attempts was only the 27^th best in the league.

The 2023 season is one of the most important in Browns history. The clock is ticking on the five-year contracts of Stefanski and executive vice president, football operations and general manager Andrew Berry. This is year four for both.

This is also perhaps the strongest roster the Browns have had in several years, perhaps decades. Plus they will play the 2023 season with a true franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson, the first franchise quarterback the Browns have had since Bernie Kosar in the 1980’s and ‘90s.

Cleveland is also in one of the most rugged divisions in the NFL, the AFC North, which also includes the Bengals, Ravens, and Steelers. Points will be at a premium, and dependable place-kickers are a necessity.

In their final pre-season game of 2023 the Browns on Saturday lost 33-32 to the Chiefs, a game in which York, with less than a minute left in the game, missed a 43-yard potential game-winning field, which was blocked, but also appeared off target off York’s foot.

“Obviously he didn’t hit it like we wanted to, so it was disappointing,” Stefanski said. “But it doesn’t change our mentality that each one of our players is going to continue to work at this thing and get better.”

For now, Stefanski, and the Browns’ front office, are not giving up on York.

Asked if he would consider bringing in another kicker to compete with York for the place-kicking job, Stefanski said, “All our roster decisions. . . are things we talk about at every position. So that’s where I’d leave it.”

Asked if expected York to be the team’s kicker in Week 1, Stefanski said, “All those types of things, we always keep those internal. . . but I’ll reiterate, I think Cade is very, very talented.”