Cleveland Browns Jamie Gillian shines as kicking battles begin

Day 1 of the Cleveland Browns minicamp has some ups and downs but the kicking battle is off to a nice start, especially for punter Jamie Gillan — also known as The Scottish Hammer

There really aren’t many starting spots up for grabs this season as the Cleveland Browns have a pretty talented collection of starters entering the 2019 NFL Season. Even with most of the skill positions figured out, there can be some good camp battles — especially on special teams.

Cleveland has two potential kicking battles brewing as their returning placekicker and punter have some young competition. Incumbent kicker Greg Jospeh will have his hands full after the Browns added Austin Siebert from Oklahoma in the fifth round during the draft.  As for punter Britton Colquitt, he’s got The Scottish Hammer, Jamie Gillian, trying to force him out of a job.

So far, the undrafted southpaw from Arkansas-Pine Bluff is doing a nice job of making life hard on Colquitt, as the Scottish Hammer made some impressive kicks on Tuesday according to Nick Shook from the team’s official website.

"”Jamie Gillan had a nice afternoon punting, dropping a couple of punts inside the 5 with ideal bounces for downing. He also launched a few rockets into the stratosphere with his left foot, drawing soft “wow” reactions from media members.” — Shook, ClevelandBrowns.com"

Shook says that Gillan has a “knuckleball” style of pint and was impressed with his big leg. It won’t be easy to unseat the veteran, but Colquitt is due roughly $2.75 million which could play into the battle.

Outside factors could come into play in the kicking contest as well. Shook said both Joseph and Siebert handled their tasks well on Tuesday, but the fact that a draft pick was used on Siebert means tying the rookie won’t be enough for Joseph to keep his starting job this season.

It’s still early and a lot can change, but so far the kicking battle in Browns camp is shaping up to be a lot of fun to watch.