The Niners could be looking at kickers this offseason.
The San Francisco 49ers didn’t have the season they anticipated in 2024, going 6-11 as they missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season, thanks to a number of issues that plagued the team throughout the year.
Among those issues was an unreliability on special teams, where the 49ers struggled yet again, despite making a few investments in recent years.
Kicker Jake Moody was the primary concern, as the former third-round pick regressed in his second year, connecting on just 24/34 (70.6 percent) of his field goals, which ranked 39th in the NFL.
After a perfect 6-of-6 in Week 1, things began to spiral for the kicker, as he made just 64.2 percent of his field goals the rest of the way.
Moody really struggled at 40 yards or beyond, connecting on just 10/20 (50 percent) of his kicks from that distance, as he proved to be extremely unreliable for the 49ers in 2024.
San Francisco had high hopes for Moody when they took him in the third round last year, which was the highest a team had taken a kicker in the draft since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Roberto Aguayo in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Entering a crucial offseason, what will the 49ers do with Moody as they look for more stability at the kicker position?
Well, it seems that the team is already beginning their due diligence, as the 49ers met with Miami kicker Andres Borregales at the East-West Shrine Bowl. Considered a top kicker in the draft, Borregales converted 18/19 of his field goal attempts in 2024, including 7/8 from 40 yards and beyond.
While drafting a kicker may not be what 49ers fans want to hear, it seems that San Francisco will look at all available options this offseason at the position.
Free agency is the logical destination to add kickers, as there is almost always a significant amount of movement as teams try out and look for solutions at the position. Options such as Nick Folk, Matt Prater, Austin Seibert, and others are scheduled to be free agents this offseason and would seemingly be upgrades over Moody, based on recent results.
San Francisco already made a move to upgrade their special teams, hiring New York Jets special teams coach Brant Boyer to the same position, replacing Brian Schneider.
Boyer had been with the Jets since 2016, surviving a number of different coaching changes, which indicates the respect he’s had in the building as the special teams coach.
From 2019-2023, Boyer’s unit ranked in the top five for special teams DVOA, thanks to strong return games on both kick and punt, before spiraling a bit in 2024 due to kicker concerns, as Greg Joseph and Greg Zuerlein combined to make only 25/35 (71.4 percent of their kicks).
So, if anyone understands the importance of a quality kicker, it’d be Boyer, which is why it makes sense that San Francisco will add at least one body to the room to compete with Moody this offseason. Whether that’s in the draft or via free agency is yet to be seen, but the 49ers need to make a move at kicker this offseason, and it seems they’ve already started their due diligence at evaluating the position.