This year it’s shifting stances and konsistency
Kicker Kombat returns to the San Francisco 49ers and it seems like a retread of last year without any extreme khaos.
In one corner, we have the challenger: Isaac Joseph. Through Friday’s practices, Joseph went 2-for-4, missing from both 40 and 50 yards. Fans may want to hand him the job, not because of practice dominance, but because of what Jake Moody did (or didn’t do) last regular season.
And his opponent is the current champion of Kicker Kombat: Jake Moody. Moody has missed a single field goal from 50 yards, going 3-4 through Friday with that miss being wide right. If you’re going purely by the week’s stat sheet, Moody is leading Kicker Kombat.
If you’re going with how the competition is faring through the eyes of 49ers special teams coordinator Brant Boyer, “uninspiring” may be the best word to use.
Look at the sheet and Moody made more field goals. That should tell you who’s in the “lead”, except this might be a repeat of what was happening at the same time last year. Moody put together impressive kicks in practice, but when the regular season rolled around, whether due to injury, mental fatigue, or other factors, he struggled to get the ball through the uprights.
Moody isn’t too concerned about the past, and more about making a statement to himself in 2025.
“I want to prove to myself that I deserve to be here, that I belong,” Moody said to reporters. It doesn’t have anything to do with last year or other people or anything. Just kind of changed my mindset to focusing on the now and doing whatever I can to help myself best make kicks.”
That includes technique. Moody has also been practicing with a new kicking approach, switching from a three-step to a two-step approach. Anyone who plays golf knows it’s similar to reworking their swing. Breaking old habits and trying to get into new ones.
As for who could win Kicker Kombat? Being consistent is a significant factor, not just through the uprights, but also the path of the ball through the goalposts.
“I think consistency is the biggest thing,” 49ers special teams coordinator Brant Boyer said. “Anybody can go out there and make four kicks in a row or something like that in a practice. But if you can do it over time, and they can see the consistency and the ball flight and everything like that is the same every time, there’s something to be said for that, the times and everything else.”
So, when you look at the kicking totals after each practice, don’t just look at goals made. The answer is a bit more granular: did they consistently make those kicks dead center with airtime? Or 20-yard chipshots with zero elevation and a good doink?
If you want to overanalyze this early, Moody is winning the kompetition, but Joseph isn’t going anywhere. It might come down to who is more konsistent, not who makes the most kicks.