Cade York is a young man of few words. Asked by nyjets.com what he’s most looking forward to this season, he offered just two: “Kicking footballs.”
He has more words than that, of course. Upon signing to compete for the Jets’ placekicking job following Nick Folk’s departure for Atlanta as an unrestricted free agent, York said;:
“Yeah, I’m excited to be part of something that’s already working at a high level. I’ve been texting Austin [McNamara, Jets punter], talking to Coach Banjo [STC Chris Banjo]. Just getting ready to work.”
No need going through the Folk scrapbook of his one-season return to the Green & White. Suffice to say Folk at age 41 is arguably the best kicker currently plying his trade in the NFL. His accuracy the past four seasons is the best in the league. And his long-range success, while certainly not tapped into from the long, long ranges of Cam Little, Chase McLaughlin and Brandon Aubrey, was still nearly flawless from under 60 yards.
But reading between the lines, it sounds as if York would like to get in on the Jets’ and the NFL’s long-distance field-goal parade.
He started finding his groove at Prosper HS in Texas with a 47-yard long kick, and followed that with a 59-yarder in the Under Armour All-America Game.
At LSU from 2019-21, he was a decent 81.8% (54- of- 66) for his career, a better 84.6% (33- of- 39) his last two seasons. As for 50-yarders, he converted a Tigers-record 15, with his career-long and school-record 57-yarder in the fog with 23 seconds to play lifting LSU over No. 6 Florida, 37-34, in 2020. He nailed 55- and 56-yarders in the same game, the Bayou Bengals’ ’21 season opener.
As a pro, though, York has struggled to find a home.