Cameron Dicker probably isn’t the best kicker in this year’s NFL Draft, but he’s the most interesting — and that’s before you even get to his rhyming nickname.

Dicker was born in Hong Kong. Though his parents are from the Seattle area, work opportunities had taken them to China. The Dickers also lived in Shanghai and Taiwan before the family moved to Austin, Texas, when Cameron was in middle school. To that point, he had only played soccer. But he went out for the junior high football team in Lake Travis, and he was placed at offensive tackle.

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It did not go well.

“One and done as an offensive lineman,” Dicker said, laughing. “I got smashed up a little bit. I’m just glad I didn’t give up on football.”

Fast forward almost 10 years and Dicker is on the verge of an NFL career following four seasons as the placekicker at the University of Texas — and one full season doubling as the punter. He kicked in last week’s Senior Bowl, and he’s one of three kicking prospects in this year’s draft class who have been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine next month.

Texas has traditionally been a good place to find NFL kickers. Phil Dawson, the best kicker in the Browns’ new era, kicked there. Justin Tucker of the Ravens, arguably the best kicker in NFL history, kicked there. Dawson and Tucker went undrafted, too, proof that sometimes NFL kickers have to go the long way. A guy who went from playing soccer in Shanghai to kicking for potential draft status in Mobile, Ala., would know a little about that.

As for what may lie ahead in Dicker’s career, his only previous experience with snow came on family ski trips to Canada when he was younger. Lake Travis has produced an AFC North quarterback (Baker Mayfield) and an Ohio State wide receiver (Garrett Wilson, Dicker’s high school teammate and a likely top-15 pick in this year’s draft), but its climate does not prepare a kicker for what could lie ahead in the crucial, late stages of an NFL season.

“Well, it was pretty cold and windy one year when we played up at Iowa State,” Dicker said. “Does that get me ready to make a game-winner up (in Cleveland or) Pittsburgh? Oh yeah. I’m ready. I’m excited. I’m always going to be confident in myself, and if I have to read the wind or get used (to the snow), I will.

“There are heaters on the sidelines. I’ll be OK.”

Dicker enjoyed learning about football — and learning to kick one — even if he didn’t enjoy his initial junior high gridiron experience. In his first two years of high school, he began to pursue offseason training and competition camps, and by his junior year, he’d given up club soccer in favor of year-round placekicking work. He was in middle school the first time a teacher called him “Dicker the Kicker,” a name that stuck as he continued to pursue kicking and that TV broadcasters seemed to enjoy repeating throughout his college career.

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“I’ve heard it a thousand times, and I’m fine with it,” Dicker said. “I guess it means I’ve done pretty well.”

NFL teams want kickers who can make long field goals, and Dicker’s successful 57-yard field goal as a sophomore was longer than any kick Dawson or Tucker made in their respective Texas careers. Dicker followed that with a 53-yarder as a junior and a 50-yarder last season. He leaves Texas as the third-leading scorer in program history and the leader in field goals made (60) and attempted (79).

“It was probably my sophomore year of college when I really started to think I might be good enough (to kick in the NFL),” Dicker said. “It was something I was pretty good at immediately and probably got a lot better my second or third year of high school when I really started to take it seriously and concentrate on the nuances. So it’s not like I was doing it (specifically) to make the NFL, but, yeah, that has to be the dream, right? So hopefully I can keep going.

“I don’t know if I’m going to get drafted, and I think sometimes it’s better if you don’t because you kind of pick your own path. But I believe I can be good enough, and I know enough about kicking to think I can be an asset to somebody’s team and do this for a long time. It’s such a mental game. I’m a pretty mellow dude and I think mentally one of the strongest guys there is. So I’m not ever going to beat myself up too badly if I have a bad day or a bad kick, and I’m always going to believe I can make the next one. I’ve made big kicks before, and I really believe I’ll do it in the NFL if I get the chance.”

In most years, there’s neither a lot of buzz nor a consensus on kicking prospects in the NFL Draft until special-teams coaches from around the league see them kick in Indianapolis and at the various pro-day events on campuses later in March. The Athletic’s draft guru, Dane Brugler, said last week that he has heard of teams placing early draftable grades on Dicker, Cade York of LSU and Gabe Brkic of Oklahoma, a native of Northeast Ohio.

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When the NFL Scouting Combine’s official invite list was released Wednesday, those were the three kickers on the list.

York, who just turned 21, entered this year’s draft after playing just three college seasons. His powerful right leg delivered a career-best 57-yard field goal in his sophomore season and a 56-yarder last fall, and he probably enters the combine as the top kicking prospect in this year’s class. With the Bengals riding the big leg of 2021 fifth-round pick Evan McPherson to the Super Bowl, expect plenty of kicker-needy teams to watch York closely next month.

Brkic is also an early entry, but he spent four years at Oklahoma. After redshirting in 2018 and sitting behind 2019 Browns draft pick Austin Seibert, he was Oklahoma’s kicker for three seasons and was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist last fall. He tied an FBS single-game record with three field goals of 50-plus yards in last year’s season opener and made nine kicks of more than 50 yards in his last two college seasons.

York and Dicker are from Texas. Brkic grew up in Chardon, Ohio, and played his high school football at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin High School. He at least has some experience in winter kicking conditions, but to be fair to all involved, McPherson, who grew up in Alabama and played collegiately at Florida, has shown no problem dealing with cold weather in his rookie season.

The Browns are in the kicker business, just as they’ve been for most of the last 10 seasons since Dawson departed for the 49ers. Chase McLaughlin started strong last year but faded at the finish. McLaughlin is eligible for restricted free agency next month; he won’t be given a tender by the Browns but could be re-signed and brought back to compete for the kicking job next summer. The Browns have retained young kicker Chris Blewitt via a futures contract after he finished the 2021 season on the practice squad.

The free-agent kicking class does not shape up as particularly strong. Nick Folk is 37, and the Patriots probably want to keep him. Randy Bullock kicked for the Titans last year after the Bengals replaced him and is eligible for free agency next month, as are Matt Gay of the Rams, Younghoe Koo of the Falcons, Joey Slye of Washington and Zane Gonzalez of Arizona, a 2017 draft pick of the Browns who was cut a few games into his second season. It seems likely that the Browns will ultimately bring two young kickers to camp and let them compete for the job, as they did last season when McLaughlin beat out Cody Parkey.

(Photo of Cameron Dicker: Frank Jansky / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)