Kawakami: A real kicking competition and more 49ers Day 1 thoughts and conclusions

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On Day 1 of 2025 training camp, the live and fascinating 49ers kicking competition really felt like the main event.

Sure, that seems a little odd on a team that has a newly paid $53-million-a-year quarterback, a handful of future Hall of Famers, yet another contractual issue at wide receiver, a defensive line filled with rookies, and a determination to bounce back from last season’s 6-11 collapse.

But you had to be there about 30 minutes into Wednesday’s brisk practice, when the stretching and warmup drills ended, somebody blew a horn, everybody headed over to the new end zone with Levi’s Stadium towering behind it, and teammates and coaches stopped and watched as the kicking team lined up.

Incumbent Jake Moody made the first short kick, veteran challenger Greg Joseph followed with his own make, and the two went on to make all eight of their combined tries, all impressively, including both finishing off the mini session with perfect strikes from a little farther than 55 yards.

Maybe Kyle Shanahan and new special teams coordinator Brant Boyer will do this almost every practice. Or maybe the competition will be spread sporadically through the next several weeks leading up to the preseason games and then the decision about which one to keep headed into Week 1 in Seattle. But from the elevated energy of that moment on Wednesday, you could tell this meant a lot more than any usual kicking period. After what the 49ers have gone through the past two seasons of Moody struggles, and knowing that they don’t have the same kind of roster depth they’ve had in the past, every kick will mean something this season. Including in practice.

“I actually am paying attention,” Nick Bosa said when I asked if this kicking competition feels different. “Can’t lie.”

Why is it different, Nick?

“It’s kind of exciting,” Bosa said.

Clearly, Shanahan and Boyer set it up to produce this kind of drama and attenuated atmosphere. It’s a big change from previous years under Shanahan, when kicking days have been alternated — and Moody was essentially guaranteed the job after he was a third-round pick in 2023.

Going back and forth in front of everybody makes it more immediate and probably more accurately simulates the pressures of kicking in a game. Now they’re through Day 1 and the competition has truly begun.

“I think between the two of them, I think they missed one in OTAs,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “So they’ve both been kicking real well and it should be a really good battle this camp.”

Is it still Moody’s job to lose? Maybe. But it’s clear that Shanahan and Boyer — and everybody on the 49ers who watched Moody make only 10 of his 20 attempts from 40 yards or more last season — want to see how Moody responds when he knows he might lose it. They want to see Joseph respond, too, of course, but this is all really about Moody.

I’ve been a public Moody skeptic since he started missing kicks in preseason of his rookie campaign all the way through his big miss in Cleveland in 2023 and the misses in Tampa Bay last season that elicited a high level of exasperation from Deebo Samuel and others. Moody has made some big kicks, too, including those two long field goals in Super Bowl 58. (But he also, of course, had an extra point blocked in regulation in a game that went into overtime.)

This offseason, Shanahan reacted to several years of special teams disarray by hiring Boyer to change things up — and Boyer has changed the punter, long-snapper, holder (who is also the punter), and top coverage guy. Boyer almost certainly has the clout to change the kicker, too. And he has coached Joseph before.

So Moody will have to earn this job in every practice and preseason game this summer. He’ll have to out-kick Joseph with the whole team watching. He has to know that and feel that. And if Moody can do it, he should be a better and more accurate kicker for it this season. If he can’t, Joseph will be the kicker this season. Which, frankly, is how I’m guessing it’ll turn out.

Of all the guys who played huge roles for the 49ers in recent years then moved on, I think DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead have been missed the most. (We’ll see about Deebo Samuel, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, and all the other Departing Class of 2025.)

But now the 49ers have at least two approximately parallel physical presences to Buckner and Armstead — lanky rookie defensive linemen Mykel Williams and Alfred Collins (who are both listed at 6-foot-5), the team’s first two picks in last April’s draft. Toss in fourth-round pick, CJ West, and suddenly the 49ers have a burst of youth, size, and speed that they haven’t had in a while.

It was notable that Collins, who missed all of the offseason program with a calf injury, was suited up and practicing on Wednesday, so the 49ers finally had all three of those guys on the field at the same time. They’ll have to stay healthy and prove themselves as NFL frontliners, but the immediate reaction is that their physical gifts are undeniable.

“I think we have a lot of talent,” Bosa said. “I think when you look out on the field you see NFL bodies out there that look impressive, which is a good thing. Obviously, we’re young, but … just ’cause nobody knows ’em now. They play a good couple games and then the whole world knows ’em.”

There’s been a big quarterback change … in the 49ers’ defensive skeleton drills, which is when Shanahan loves to test out his arm and poke at potential problem areas in the back-seven coverage.

But Shanahan’s throwing arm is sore and sidelined these days, so, dating back to the OTAs, John Lynch’s son Jake, a recent defensive-staff hire, has been throwing in those drills — usually to a mix of equipment guys and other assembled people and up against the 49ers’ first- and second-string linebackers and defensive backs.

Judging from what I saw Wednesday, the former Stanford linebacker throws a pretty decent ball. (Shh: Probably better than when Robert Saleh used to throw in that drill in his first defensive-coordinator tenure before Shanahan took over the role.) Let’s see how long the younger Lynch keeps the job. I know Shanahan will be watching.