Cleveland Browns: 5 players who must show out vs New York Giants in Preseason Week 2

Cleveland Browns: 3. Cody Parkey, K

Is there any position as precarious as that of a kicker? Cody Parkey is the ultimate case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. At times in his career, Parkey has been as good as any kicker in the league. At other times…well, it has not always had a happy ending.

By all accounts, Parkey had a good year for the Browns in 2020. He was 19-of-22 in the field goal department and 43-of-47 in extra points. But Parkey has had good years before only to implode the following year.

This year, the Browns brought in veteran Chase McLaughlin to compete with Parkey for the kicking duties. Early on in camp Parkey was driving the struggle bus but has appeared to get it back on the road as of late.

However, in the Browns first preseason game, Parkey skipped a ball through the uprights on a 48-yard field goal. There are two ways to look at the kick. One, it went through so it should not be a big deal that it glanced the uprights. Two, Parkey has infamously been a repeat offender of the doink, and even the disastrous dreaded double-doink.

Kicking is all about confidence and repetition. If Parkey goes out Sunday against the Giants and puts one or two down the middle of the uprights on his field-goal attempts he should be good to go. But, if Parkey is to strike the uprights, or flat-out miss badly, it will invoke the ghosts of the doinks of implosions past.

At the end of the day, the job is his to lose. In the event of a tie, the win should go to the incumbent.