Cleveland Browns: 5 players whose stock is up after Buccaneers loss

2. Austin Seibert

It’s taken all of Training Camp and three preseason games, but Austin Seibert finally has the lead in the Browns’ kicking competition.

Seibert converted on field goals of 54, 36 and 30 yards.

The 54 yarder was huge, because one of the big knocks on Seibert was that he didn’t try many kicks from beyond 50 yards while in college. He didn’t need to because Oklahoma was too busy scoring touchdowns.

Prior to this point, it seems that Joseph was always in the lead, but failed to deliver a knockout punch that would’ve him secured him the job. Every time Seibert got close to catching Joseph, the rookie seemed to fall back.

But this might be the performance that catapults Seibert into the job for good. This was the dress rehearsal and Seibert delivered like a veteran. All of his kicks were right down the middle and the 54-yarder would’ve been good from 64 yards out.

His fourth make, from 35 yards out, gave the Browns a 12-0 lead about halfway through the fourth quarter.

For the first time all preseason, there’s reason to feel positive about the Browns’ kicking situation.