49ers Facing Troubling Situation at Kicker for Week 1 Due to Injuries

Kyle Shanahan has never faced this issue in his coaching career.

As the 49ers rapidly approach final roster cuts in search of a 53-man roster to feel comfortable with heading into the regular season, an interesting underlying storyline is emerging surrounding their kickers.

Three days remain until NFL teams have to cut their rosters down to the final 53, and in a span of the last three days, San Francisco’s two primary options at kicker have gone down with injuries. 

Rookie kicker Jake Moody (right quadriceps) and veteran Zane Gonzales (right calf) are both in doubt for the start of the regular season, and now the 49ers must navigate final roster cuts without having the foresight of knowing the health status of their kickers two weeks from now when the regular season begins.

“I have never been in the situation before where we have two really good kickers in our camp and, a few days before the final 53, both kickers aren’t available at this time,” coach Kyle Shanahan told ESPN on Saturday. “I think these next couple of days are really important just to see how the rehabbing is going and things like that and trying to guess where it’s going to be two weeks from now when we kick off.”

The 49ers had every intention of going into the season with Moody as the starting kicker. The rookie was taken with the 99th pick in the third round, a high selection for the kicker position, so there’s little doubt he would be the guy if he was healthy. 

Gonzales, meanwhile, was brought in as a depth option in case of injury, but then he got hurt too.

There are no clear answers for the 49ers, but they’ll work out multiple kickers this week in the interim. When asked directly whether or not the team would consider bringing back Robbie Gould, who kicked for San Francisco every year since 2017, Shanahan didn’t rule it out. Gould had a successful run with the 49ers before the team moved on from him this offseason after selecting Moody.

“We’re discussing everything and just being ready for any possibility to maneuver this roster however, but we really don’t know what direction we’re gonna go until time takes care of that,” Shanahan said.