Cade York has been released as the Browns’ starting kicker for the 2023 NFL season. To address the hole, they traded for former Chargers kicker Dustin Hopkins, who has performed admirably thus far.
Through Week 16, Hopkins has a league-high 33 field goals. He has only missed three times while making all eight of his kicks from more over 50 yards.
Despite his accomplishment, Hopkins will not be kicking for the Browns in their Week 17 “Thursday Night Football” game against the Jets. There are also concerns regarding his availability beyond that, since he is recovering from a hamstring injury suffered against the Texans.
While Hopkins is out, the Browns were forced to bring in a backup kicker. Fortunately for them, they were able to acquire a talented, veteran player recognized for his high accuracy.
Riley Patterson, the Browns’ substitute kicker, is profiled here.
What is the name of the Browns’ kicker?
Riley Patterson has been named the Browns’ new kicker. Six days after the Lions released him, the Browns signed him to their practice squad.
Patterson joined the league in 2021 after going undrafted out of Memphis. The Browns are his fifth different organization for whom he has kicked in his three-year NFL career.
Patterson had two stints with the Lions in 2021 and 2023, separated by a year as the Jaguars’ kicker. During his debut season in 2021, he also spent time with the Vikings and Patriots, but he never kicked for either of them.
Riley Patterson’s statistics
Patterson has appeared in 37 games as the primary kicker for his team in his NFL career. He has hit 58 of 66 career field goals for a percentage of 87.9 percent, which would put him in the top five in NFL history once he reaches the minimum of 100 of goal attempts.
Patterson’s stats each season with the Lions and Jaguars, his only two teams for whom he has kicked, are shown below.
Year Team FGM FGA FG% Long XPM XPA XP%
2021 Lions 13 14 92.9 49 16 16 100
2022 Jaguars 30 35 85.7 53 36 37 97.3
2023 Lions 15 17 88.2 52 35 37 94.6
Total 58 66 87.9 53 87 90 96.7
Riley Patterson was released by the Lions for what reason?
When looking at Patterson’s numbers with the Lions, some may question why he was released. After all, he’s been a rock-solid kicker with decent accuracy throughout his career.
According to special teams coordinator Dave Fipp, the decision was influenced by a practice competition between Patterson and Michael Badgley.
“Internally, we had those guys competing in practice and so they would each get roughly six kicks a day and we’d kick them at least twice a week, so it was 12 kicks a week,” Fipp revealed in an interview with SBNation. “And Badgley had improved over the course of six weeks, and we didn’t want to make that decision right away.” We believed he deserved as fair an opportunity as we could have given him, but it was evident that he was performing better at the end of the day.”
It’s unclear what Badgley was doing better, although it could have been his leg strength versus Patterson’s lack of it.
While Patterson has been accurate within 50 yards his whole career, he has only made three of six attempts from beyond 50 yards. That isn’t a bad statistic in and of itself, but given that his longest make came from 53 yards, it’s evident that he lacks the range required to routinely make deep kicks.
In comparison, Badgley is less accurate, having made only 95 of 116 field goals (81.9 percent) and 5 of 13 attempts from 50 yards or more. He does, however, have a career-long of 59 yards.
That range may have helped “The Money Badger” pull away from Patterson in what was clearly a tight midseason kicking fight.
What became to Dustin Hopkins?
In Week 15, Hopkins strained his hamstring while attempting to make a tackle on Dameon Pierce’s 98-yard kick return touchdown.
On the play, Hopkins attempted but failed to pursue Pierce. He struggled back to the sideline, clutching his leg, and was declared out due to the injury.
With Hopkins out, the Browns did not attempt an extra point or field goal for the rest of the game. As a result of the injury, he is considered “week to week” and will be out until at least Week 17.
So Patterson will have at least one week to make his case for a starting kicker position elsewhere. And, depending on Hopkins’ health, it may be even longer.
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