The 49ers Sign Kicker Matthew Wright to Temporarily Replace Jake Moody
Time to get to know a new kicker.
Nov 13, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers place kicker Matthew Wright (4) reacts after missing a field goal against the New Orleans Saints during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. The Steelers won 20-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
The 49ers just signed kicker Matthew Wright because Jake Moody has a high-ankle sprain and will miss the next few games. Moody suffered this injury while trying to make a tackle during a kick return Sunday during the 49ers’ 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Wright is a fairly average NFL kicker. He’s 28, he has been in the NFL since 2020, he’s on his fifth team, his longest field goal ever was 59 yards and he has made 85.1 percent of the kicks in his career. The NFL average for kickers this season is 86.2. Moody’s career percentage is 87.1. So he’s not drastically better than Wright.
Moody recently missed a field goal in the 49ers’ 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, a team that currently has won just one game. He also missed an extra point in the 49ers’ Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs. So he’s not exactly automatic. And he seems to struggle most when the pressure’s on.
Wright’s first game with the 49ers will be this Thursday on the road against the Seahawks. Wright played in Seattle in 2021 when he was a member of the Panthers and made his one extra-point attempt. He did not kick a field goal in that game.
While Wright obviously isn’t the best kicker in the league, he’s low on the 49ers’ list of concerns. Because after their double-digit collapses against the Rams and Cardinals, it seems the 49ers’ issues are systemic.
Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered
