Browns take a kicker in 4th round, highest for a kicker since Roberto Aguayo in 2016
It's always a bit tricky, figuring out when to draft a punter or kicker.
Those positions are obviously valuable. Ask a team that has a shaky kicker or a subpar punter how much angst that causes.
The Cleveland Browns were the first team to jump into the kicker/punter pool. And it wasn't the much-hyped San Diego State punter Matt Araiza.
The Browns took LSU kicker Cade York in the fourth round, with the 124th overall pick. ESPN said that's the highest a kicker has gone in the draft since ... Tampa Bay took Roberto Aguayo with the 59th pick of the 2016 NFL draft. That history is not comforting for the Browns or their fans.
Aguayo was a great college kicker but it never translated to the NFL. The Buccaneers wasted a second-round pick on a below-average kicker. That didn't embolden other teams to take kickers and punters early in the draft.
The Baltimore Ravens took the first punter off the board in the fourth round, and it wasn't Araiza. They took Penn State's Jordan Stout with the 130th overall pick.
The Browns have been shuffling through kickers for years and want a permanent solution. Maybe it's York. He has great range, hitting many deep kicks including a a 57-yard game-winner to beat Florida. That was an LSU record. York hit 81.8 percent of his field goals at LSU and all 75 of his extra-point attempts his final two seasons with the Tigers.
If York works out, that will be great news for Cleveland. They paid up for some stability at the kicker position.
