Washington Commanders fans are getting the Jake Moody experience San Francisco 49ers fans know so well.
The former 49ers kicker is competing for the Commanders’ placekicker job, a situation not unlike the one he was in just one year ago. The difference is, the 49ers released Gregg Joseph, Moody’s competitor, because Moody won the competition early in training camp.
In Washington, it’s the other way around for Moody, who is pitted against Drew Stevens. Per Grant Paulsen, Moody has missed 11 kicks in the last
four practices. His misses on Monday?
On paper, Joseph was beating Moody at the time of the former’s release on August 4 by a single made kick. It was speculated that kickoff placement and confidence were the reasons to hold onto Moody, who was the 49ers’ first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft—a third-round pick, mind you, because they didn’t have a first or second that year.
Moody was waived after Week 1 in the NFL regular season, two days after going 1 for 3 against the Seattle Seahawks.
It almost looked like one that got away. When Moody left the 49ers, he went to the Chicago Bears practice squad and was called up in Week 6 when the Bears played the Commanders. Moody set a franchise record for most successful field goal attempts in a debut, going 4-5. He made all four of his kicks the following week against the New Orleans Saints.
Unfortunately, Moody was only a placeholder while starter Cairo Santos dealt with injury. He went back to the practice squad and was signed by the Commanders to their active roster in November.
Now he’s in another competition to get a starting job. He’s had a couple of good games, but it’s buried in bad practices and some head-scratching misses.
Consistency might be what defines Jake Moody’s career. While the third-round pick used on him can be lambasted, it’s hard to imagine that he’d struggle this much three years later.
