The Cleveland Browns boast one of the best rosters in the NFL thanks to years of quality drafting and savvy free agent moves. But one position that was a strength in 2020 could be a liability now due to an injury: Field goal kicker.
According to Cleveland Browns insider Tony Grossi, Browns starting kicker Cody Parkey has been placed on injured reserve. His season is now over after suffering a quad injury this past week.
Last year Parkey was about as accurate of a kicker as the NFL has these days. He went 19 of 22, missing only once from beyond 40 yards, and made 43 of 47 extra point attempts.
Replacing Parkey will be third-year kicker Chase McLaughlin, who has found stable work very hard to come by. McLaughlin has played for five teams in just two years and hasn’t exactly endeared himself to any of them.
Cody Parkey to injured reserve. Looks like Chase McLaughlin the new kicker.
— Tony Grossi (@TonyGrossi) August 23, 2021
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
As a rookie in 2019, Chase McLaughlin played 11 games for three different teams. He went 18 of 23 that season – just 78.3-percent of his kicks, but really struggled between 40-49 yards.
In 2020, McLaughlin played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets and similarly failed to impress. McLaughlin missed one field goal and one field goal for the Jaguars and only played in one game for the Jets before being released.
Maybe 2021 will be a bounceback year for McLaughlin. Of course, he has to make the final 53-man roster first. And while his competition at Browns camp may be gone, the Browns can still decide to bring in someone else when final cuts come around.
Are the Browns better or worse off with Chase McLaughlin as their new kicker?
The post Browns Announce Significant Kicker Injury News appeared first on The Spun.
Leave a Reply