There weren't many bright spots in the Washington Commanders' 37-21 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 and one player that certainly had his issues was placekicker Cade York.
The Commanders acquired York from the Cleveland Browns a little more than two weeks ago ahead of the final preseason game against the New England Patriots. The price was a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, so the Commanders didn't have give up too much for his services.
And so far, that's a good thing. York missed two field goals against the Bucs on Sunday, placed a kickoff out of bounds that gave Tampa the ball at the 40, and then looked shaky on one of his three PAT attempts. His field goal attempts were from 56- and 47-yards, so they weren't the easiest attempts, but still, he's expected to make those (Bucs K Chase McLaughlin nailed his 56-yard attempt, for example).
When it comes to finding their guy, the Commanders have had issues at kicker all season long. Veteran Brandon McManus was released earlier in the year for sexual assault allegations, Ramiz Ahmed was cut during the summer, and then Riley Patterson was released after struggling in the preseason. York is the guy who took his spot.
So the question is will the Commanders be on the lookout for their fifth kicker since Adam Peters was hired back in February?
"I think we'll have a good talk about that, see where we're at," Commanders head coach Dan Quinn told reporters after the game. "Let's look into what next week looks like and go from there. I think what I have seen is talent [and] this guy has an incredibly strong leg. That's why the decision to go for the one I think at the 37, it felt good from the distance standpoint, and I thought we need to give ourselves a spark. So when those go the other way, kind of like we were talking about going for a two-point or not and you miss them, it kind of goes.
"But I thought the kick out of bounds, the misses, man, like I said, there's a lot of lessons from tonight. Adam and I have not discussed that at all. We'll get into that as we get into the week... missing those chances, that hurt."
The Commanders may just be stuck with York
Honestly, there may be just one better option out there available in Randy Bullock and even that's a bit of a question because we are unsure just how healthy he is after the New York Giants placed him on IR toward the end of last year. It's not like the Commanders can trade for a guy, this time around either. Teams aren't carrying two kickers on their roster like they were toward the end of the preseason when 90-man rosters were the norm. And even if they could, Peters can't keep spending draft capital every time he wants to pluck a kicker off another team.
Regardless, expect Peters to scour every inch of every feasible corner he can look in when it comes to a solution. Whether or not he finds someone remains to be seen, but it's clear some kind of backup plan needs to be conjured up in case York continues to play like he did against the Bucs.
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