Jake Moody just went 2 for 6 in a kicking period during Commanders practices, capping off a brutal stretch where he’s missed a shocking 11 kicks in the last four sessions. We’re talking four straight misses from 44, 49, 51, and 55 yards here! It’s August 2026, and the former 49ers kicker is battling Drew Stevens for Washington’s placekicker job, a scenario that feels way too familiar for anyone who’s followed his erratic path.
It really feels like consistency is the one thing that defines Jake Moody’s career, or rather, his lack of it. Just last year, he was in a similar spot with the San Francisco 49ers. He “won” that competition, sure, but the details make you scratch your head. They released his competitor, Gregg Joseph, early in training camp. Yet, on paper, Joseph had actually been beating Moody by a single made kick when he got cut on August 4. The word was that kickoff placement and overall confidence were the reasons the Niners held onto Moody, who was their very first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, a third-rounder because they had no first or second that year. What a gamble for a kicker. But then, the shoe dropped. After Week 1 of the NFL regular season, and just two days after he limped to a dismal 1 for 3 performance against our own Seattle Seahawks, Moody was waived. Talk about a brutal welcome to the league, especially when you can’t even nail kicks against the Emerald City boys.
After that messy exit from the 49ers, Moody found a temporary home on the Chicago Bears practice squad. He got called up in Week 6 when the Bears faced the Commanders, and for a moment, it looked like he might have figured it out. He actually set a franchise record for most successful field goal attempts in a debut, going 4 for 5! The next week against the New Orleans Saints? He made all four of his kicks. But hold your horses, because it was only a temporary gig. He was just a placeholder while starter Cairo Santos was dealing with an injury. Back to the practice squad he went. Then, in November, the Commanders decided to sign him to their active roster.
Now, he’s here, in another competition for a starting job, and it’s the same old story. He’s had a couple of good games mixed in there, buried deep under a pile of bad practices and some real head-scratching misses. Three years after being a third-round pick, you’d expect a lot more. It’s hard to imagine anyone thinking he’d still be struggling this much to find his footing. For Moody, the next few practices aren’t just about winning a job, they’re about proving he can actually be reliable. Can he find that consistency, or will these bad habits define his season?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Niners Nation.
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