Kicker Kombat may have ended in double KO. Earlier on Friday, it was announced San Francsico 49ers rookie kicker Jake Moody had a quad issue and was now week-to-week. That meant Zane Gonzalez would be on display for the 49ers against the Los Angeles Chargers right?
Wrong! While many thought the first XP missed after Brock Purdy’s touchdown was by the other kicker, it turns out it wasn’t Gonzalez either. It was punter Mitch Wishnowsky missing a boot. They later said Gonzalez was out with a calf injury. Things got so bad that later on in the game on 4th and 2 the 49ers went for it because they didn’t have a field goal unit.
Gonzalez was supposed to be insurance for Moody in case the rookie struggled his first year in the league. And if Moody turned out good, Gonzalez was excellent trade value when cut day happens on Tuesday. Neither of that is happening. In fact, Kyle Shanahan says the 49ers need a Plan B for Week 1 just in case neither is ready to go.
The 49ers might want Plan B just because of Jake Moody struggles. In no way has he ever been awful. He has, however, had growing pains of the NFL level and is starting to make fans hold their breath on each kick. There’s no predicting how his first season will go, but if he struggled, Gonzalez could have stepped in. That’s not happening.
Guess who’s still available? Why none other than Robbie Gould. He said he would have “loved” to go back to the 49ers, but that emotion may be just a bit different now that the 49ers traded for Zane Gonzalez and burned a 3rd rounder on Moody.
Regardless Gould has been dependable and can at least make exponentially more XPs than he misses. His distance is dwarfed by Moody’s booming leg, but besides the Las Vegas Raiders shank, he is dependable to win the game, and get you the 3 points inside 50 yards.
Maybe the 49ers put both on injured reserve and roll Robbie Gould out for one more year. I’m not sure what Gould’s asking price is this close to the regular season or if he’s even open to a return after the above, but there’s always Plan B. What Plan B is, who knows.
Do the 49ers get Robbie Gould on the phone?
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