With the 170th pick in the fifth round, the Cleveland Browns select Austin Seibert, a kicker from Oklahoma. No one wants to take a kicker in the draft, let alone use a sixth rounder, but he is a very good kicker. This selection is not sexy and is noted as a reach by most pundits, but Seibert has a big leg. Most fans will remember Seibert from his viral YouTube video that showed him banging in an incredible 66-yard field goal while in high school.
Seibert has the potential to be one of the best kickers in the NFL and he credits a lot of his skill to suffering a broken leg in high school, which allowed him to essentially retrain his leg to kick. That’s right; he’s essentially a machine. Cleveland has drafted a cyborg to kick field goals and every Browns fan in the country is hoping it pays off.
This pick is somewhat a passing of the torch as Seibert broke former Zane Gonzalez’s record for career points with 499.
Again Seibert is in the upper tier of draftable kickers, hence the selection, but he was still available in the sixth due to nailing only one of his three attempts from beyond 50 yards during his college career. Seibert’s longest collegiate field goal was a slightly disappointing 51 yards, but proof of his potential is literally on YouTube and clearly, Cleveland believes in his skill.
