Round 5: Austin Seibert, K, Oklahoma
Never, never, never draft a special teamer; especially not in the fifth round. Two years ago, former Browns general manager Sashi Brown took kicker Zane Gonzalez in the seventh round and he is no longer on the roster. In 2016, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded back into the second round to take Roberto Aguayo, and he is no longer on an NFL roster.
Kickers are such crapshoots and the margin of finding a good one is so slim, the risk of drafting one as opposed to signing one as an undrafted free agent is razor thin. So why use a valuable fifth-round pick to take one?
Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert saw himself become the second kicker off the board, behind Matt Gay of Utah, and is joining his college teammate Baker Mayfield in Cleveland. Seibert has made 98 percent of his extra points over his four-year career, and just 79 percent of kicks.
Not to mention, Seibert’s longest field goal of his career is 51 yards. The Browns now have three kickers on their roster in last year’s starter Greg Joseph, Seibert and undrafted free agent Jamie Gillan from Arkansas Pine-Bluff who, like Seibert, can kick and punt.
To select a kicker as high as the fifth round, the Browns should be absolutely positive he is a sure-fire success, but his numbers do not quite support this line of thinking.
Grade: F