The 49ers just signed veteran kicker Greg Joseph to compete with former third-round pick Jake Moody.
This is a competition Moody would win easily if he didn't have the yips, but it's unclear how solid he is mentally after missing so many kicks the first two seasons of his career.
Meanwhile, Joseph, 30, is on his seventh NFL team. Last season alone, he played for three teams, including the Jets whose special teams coach at the time was Brant Boyer, who now is the 49ers' special teams coach. So that's the 49ers' connection to Joseph.
There's a reason Joseph has bounced around the league so much since he entered it in 2018 -- he's not that good. Last season, he made just 80 percent of his field goal attempts, which was below the league average of 84 percent. Meanwhile, Moody made a grotesque 70.6 percent of his field goal attempts. Granted, in 2023 he made 84 percent which is average and better than Joseph.
So Moody can win this competition if he has his mind right. But he has been the subject of so much scrutiny simply because the 49ers reached for him and drafted him in Round 3. It's extremely hard for a kicker to live up to that draft status. If he were to go to another team, he'd be just another kicker. He'd have nothing to live up to.
That's probably why the 49ers hang onto Moody. They know he might kick well somewhere else just like he kicked well in college. Unfortunately for the 49ers, he probably never will kick well for them.
