IT’S A MATTER OF (DIS)TRUST WITH MCLAUGHLIN

By STEVE KING

Do, you, Browns fans, trust Chase McLaughlin?
I don’t. I certainly don’t.
But the Browns have re-signed the place kicker and will give him a chance to compete for the job he held last season.
He was 4–for-4 on field-goal attempts of 50 yards and more in 2021, which is impressive. But he was just 15-for-21 on tries overall, including 2-6 in a four-week stretch in the second half of the year.
That — being utterly miserable in those November and December games that are so important in trying to make the playoffs, and making only 71 percent of his attempts as a whole — is just not good enough. Many NFL games are decided by a touchdown or less, so every point matters. When McLaughlin misses kicks, that could cost the Browns a game and possibly also the postseason.
I trusted Phil Dawson — a lot — and there was good reason for that because he was outstanding for almost a decade and a half as the Browns began the expansion era
But ever since the genius, former Browns President Joe Banner, let Dawson walk in free agency following the 2012 season without even making him a contract offer, the Browns have really struggled to find a kicker.
The Browns — and I — thought McLaughlin was the guy because he started so flawlessly last year, but then he nosedived, and, as a result, so did my confidence in him to the point that, if the club needed a pressure kick to win a game, I am not counting on him to make it.
And, until quarterback Deshaun Watson gets back from what will almost certainly be an appreciable suspension for violating the NFL Code of Conduct, the Browns offense is going to have to rely on good kicking and their defense to win games. I trust the defense, but not Chase McLaugjlin.
Perhaps he has gotten better and will perform well enough to win the job. And perhaps he would then have a good season. I would have to see it to believe it, though.