The Cleveland Browns are once again facing questions at kicker. Rookie Andre Szmyt missed two crucial kicks in his NFL debut; an extra point that would have tied the game, and a 36-yard field goal that could have won it. The Browns ended up losing their season opener to Cincinnati, 17–16.
“It seems like … if we're not talking quarterback problems with the Browns, we're talking kicker problems,” said Ideastream Public Media’s sports commentator Terry Pluto.
Pluto said that since head coach Kevin Stefanski and GM Andrew Berry took over six seasons ago, the team has already cycled through eight different kickers.
“They have that jersey with the names of 40 different starting quarterbacks for the Brown's since ‘99, maybe they need to get a kicking one, too,” Pluto joked.
Pluto said Szmyt was a strong kicker at Syracuse University, but went undrafted. He built a reputation in the United Football League and was invited to Browns training camp to compete with veteran Dustin Hopkins, who had been struggling in the preseason. Szmyt ultimately won the job.
Pluto said if the Browns want to move on from the rookie, they have plenty of options. He points to the website Over the Cap that lists available free agent kickers.
“I found all kinds of names that passed through Cleveland recently," Pluto said. "Like Austin Seibert is there if you want to call him. He was a draft pick. Another guy named Zane Gonzalez...also a draft pick by the Browns. He's available. Cade York, another draft pick. He's also available.”
Pluto explained why NFL teams go through kickers so quickly.
“Kickers don't make a lot of money (in NFL terms)," Pluto said. "So, it's easy to cut them because it doesn't cost you that much. But the other thing that has happened is the standards for kicking have become so high.”
Pluto said the average kicker now makes 86% of field goals compared to around 55% in the past.
On Monday, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski seemed willing to give the rookie another chance. But Pluto believes the team needs another option.
“Well, I have a guy (in mind who’s) kicked here twice; Riley Patterson," Pluto said. "I might bring him in and see how he looks. I would at least bring in somebody else to look at. I'm really worried about it. I mean, I guess you could say, you could take (Szmyt) to Baltimore, give him another chance. In the back of your mind, you think the Ravens are really good. They probably wouldn't win that game anyway.”
Pluto said what was disappointing about the missed kicks on Sunday was that the Browns were able to win.
“Their game plan was to keep it low scoring and keep it close," Pluto said. "They played very well. There were a couple other mistakes they made, but my goodness, we're talking about an extra point that is made 92% of the time, and then a field goal in that range of 35 or 36 yards that's made about 88% of time."
Pluto also noted that several other NFL teams are likely searching for a new kicker as well.
"There's probably about 5 to 8 teams right now, who maybe kept the kicker that they don't like a whole lot, and they're thinking, should we go shopping?" Pluto said. "Go back into the bag of kickers, close our eyes and pull out a name?"
