Cade York and why Cleveland shouldn't get rid of him

The 2009 film noir The Watchmen was based on the successful comic book run of the same name. Set in a different timeline/world/universe where a man was transformed into an all-knowing, all-powerful demigod named Dr Manhattan and became the nuclear deterrent for the globe, street-level heroes fought in Vietnam, ((Which was won for America by said all-knowing, all-powerful demigod.)) and Richard Nixon was president for four terms, there was an antihero named Rorschach. Rorschach has no superpowers but is an expert detective, has peak-level physical strength and agility, and a mask that moves and morphs into ink blots, giving him his name. The movie weaves in and out of present-day and flashbacks, but Rorschach is our protagonist, investigating the murder of a former hero coworker The Comedian. He is set up to take the fall for the death of a superpowered foe of his and is subsequently arrested. ((Maybe not such an expert detective after all.)) There is a scene in the cafeteria where, upon being jumped in the cafeteria of the prison filled with criminals he put in there and breaks the arm of the jumper in this case, he utters a very hard ((Rap lingo hard, not difficult to say.)) line, "you all don't seem to understand: I'm not locked in here with you...you're locked in here with me." Honestly, bars.https://youtu.be/4MiqPQ1dVg4I bring up Rorschach and his famous line for this reason: when the Cleveland Browns drafted Cade York in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, you could make the argument that it wasn't so much that he was locked in with them, but that they were locked in with him. Surely the team thought they had solved the organization's kicking woes that have plagued the lakefront franchise since Phil Dawson stared down the floating flag on the left upright for the final time. Never could they have foreseen this booter belting his way to bad vibes when he was making 70-yard bombs in practice, yet struggled with 30-39 yard kicks when it mattered (9-for-12 in that yard range in 2022, for what it's worth.)Kickers, while being only one of two players on a 53-man roster who actually use their foot in a game called "football", have seemingly been phased out of the game via analytics and the idea that going for two or short yardage 4th downs had become the market inefficiency. So when the forward-thinking front office of Cleveland drafted York, only an 81% kicker in college, used one of their precious few draft picks to select a player who would seemingly impact so little of the game, it was head-tilt worthy. Only 9 kickers had been selected in the 4th round or higher since the year 2000, and it was a mixed bag out of those: Sebastian Janokowski and Stephen Gostkowski and Mike Nugent are names you likely remember with some of those kicks being made in Super Bowls, but guys like Roberto Aguayo, Travis Dorsch, and Alex Henery don't inspire feelings of dread from rival fans and bettors needing the 47-yard kick to miss to save the spread.If you're wondering why there are guys reporting daily, even hour-by-hour, on York's roster status like it's Panda Watch, a quick recap is thus: York made 75% of kicks in 2022, putting him 30th out of 33 qualified kickers, and the preseason has not been kind to him or fans either, where he's .500. This past week's game against the Philadelphia Eagles was a perfect microcosm, where he made three kicks of varying difficulty early in the game, then missed one that zoomied way right but was called back on a defensive penalty, and then promptly knuckled one left from five yards closer. There have been tweets and videos and tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists that punter and holder Chris Bojorquez is the issue, and while there has been some Zaprudering of film and cause for concern has been raised, the coaching staff has stayed by York's and Bojorquez's sides. I say all that to say this: general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski have their wagons hitched to the "will he won't he but not about relationships about this gimmie 32-yard field goal" York because they made the decision to draft him. Even as a fan who doesn't want to have to watch games be decided through my fingertips as the knuckleball flies off of York's brass toe, I get it. You made the bed, you gotta lie in it, at least for the start of 2023.Much has been made about 2022 being a dead draft for Berry, who has already whiffed on Perrion Winfrey from that class, but it's too early to cut York now, who surely will go to Pittsburgh and replace Chris Boswell, one of the only kickers worse than York in 2022. Please do not read this article as though I am some homer Browns fan, tying myself to the Berry tree while the lumberjacks fire up their chainsaws. I wish there was a better option in Cleveland kicker-wise, but anyone brought in to handle extra points has flopped, much like any free-agent hitter the Guardians bring in gets his power sapped immediately. ((Guardos catching strays.)) Alas, the team can't and shouldn't move off of York at this juncture, meaning that York isn't locked in here with us...we are locked in here with him.