Niners Nation
Kicker Kombat returns with Jake Moody and Greg Joseph squaring off. Moody has 49ers special teams coordinator Brant Boyer’s support, but Joseph has been slightly more efficient. 49ers fans—what would you do?
So Jake Moody didn’t have a good 2024. We know that much. We also know the 49ers have brought in veteran kicker Greg Joseph as competition during training camp.
Here’s the problem: Moody has had solid training camps in the past. He’s kicked well when it probably didn’t matter. So what happens if that’s all we see again?
This week, during the 49ers' mandatory minicamp, the kicker statistics have been neck and neck, with Joseph having a slight edge in the efficiency department. Moody went six for seven on Tuesday, while on Wednesday, Greg Joseph was perfect, hitting all seven of his kicks.
So one missed practice kick from Moody, who we’ve seen plenty of on game day, and a flawless performance from Joseph, who...well, you tell me. If Moody keeps the pressure on, this will stay neck and neck. And even if he “wins” the job, then what?
And for all intents and purposes, it might be Moody again. NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco said on KNBR’s Papa and Silver that Moody would essentially have to go out of his way to lose the competition:
“I think Jake Moody would have to, I don’t know necessarily implode, but he would just have to give off the bad vibes that they would feel like it’s necessary to move on. This is kind of a little bit of a stretch, but I remember back when Alex Smith was going to be a free agent and heading into the 2011 season. Everybody on the planet felt he needed a fresh start. It just didn’t happen with the 49ers; all the coaching changes, all the offensvie coordiantor changes. He just needed to go somewhere else and reinvent himself. His family was telling him that, everybody was telling him that. Jim Harbaugh came in and said “hey look you can have your fresh start. Your fresh start can be right here right now with me and this coaching staff.
“And that’s kind of the way I view the Jake Moody thing too. For the longest time last season, late in the year when we saw his body language and he talked about his confidence being shot. You just felt like, “Man this guy, he just needs a fresh start. He might be a good kicker in the NFL, but I’m not sure it could be with the 49ers.” That’s the way I felt.
“Well, what’s happened since then is they brought in a new special teams coordinator who pretty much has carte blanche over that aspect of the team. And the new special teams coordinator Brant Boyer brings in a new long snapper, a new punter/holder, and all of these guys to help on special teams and all of the sudden you look at this now...
