The San Francisco 49ers have secured a temporary replacement for injured kicker Jake Moody. Moody is currently sidelined with a high-ankle sprain and his return date is uncertain. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Niners have signed former Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Matthew Wright to a one-year contract.
Wright, who is 28 years old, played in one game for the Carolina Panthers in 2023. Unfortunately, he missed his only attempt from beyond 50 yards. In 2022, he had 14 attempts with the Steelers and successfully made 12 of them. This included one attempt from beyond 50 yards and five out of six attempts from beyond 40 yards.
Throughout his career, Wright has made an impressive 85 percent of his field goal attempts, totaling at least47 kicks. He has also been successful on six out of nine attempts from beyond the distance of 50 yards. Additionally, he has kicked off the ball on83 occasions, resulting in touchbacks approximately28 percent of the time.
Finding a replacement kicker was crucial for the Niners as their punter Mitch Wishnowsky had to take over kicking duties after Moody’s injury during Sunday’s game.
The duration of Moody’s absence remains uncertain as recovery time depends on how severe his ankle sprain is. It could range anywhere from one to two months. During this period, it will be important for the team’s offensive possessions to result in touchdowns rather than settling for field goals so that Wright will primarily be relied upon for extra points.
the signing of Matthew Wright provides some stability to San Francisco’s kicking game while they wait for Jake Moody to recover from his injury.