Niner Noise
FanSided

5 49ers players who need to perform better in second half of 2019

By Peter Panacy

SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 23: Dante Pettis #18 of the San Francisco 49ers makes a catch against the Chicago Bears during their NFL game at Levi's Stadium on December 23, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 23: Dante Pettis #18 of the San Francisco 49ers makes a catch against the Chicago Bears during their NFL game at Levi's Stadium on December 23, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 6
Next
LANDOVER, MARYLAND – OCTOBER 20: Robbie Gould #9 of the San Francisco 49ers lines up a second half field goal against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on October 20, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MARYLAND – OCTOBER 20: Robbie Gould #9 of the San Francisco 49ers lines up a second half field goal against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on October 20, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

No. 1: Kicker Robbie Gould

There are potentially a number of reasons why veteran kicker Robbie Gould hasn’t played anywhere near the level he was at during his always-reliable 2017 and 2018 campaigns the previous two years.

More from Niner Noise

San Francisco had issues and a revolving door at long-snapper, which combined with a rookie holder in Mitch Wishnowsky, could have led to Gould converting only 13 of his 20 field-goal attempts so far this season. The veteran long-snapper, Kyle Nelson, is back from his 10-game suspension, which hopefully helps solidify things a bit moving forward.

But that doesn’t change the fact Gould is still converting at a rate of only 65 percent — ranked 29th among 33 qualifiers at the halfway point of 2019.

It’s unreasonable to expect the 49ers will continuously blow out opponents in the range of their better-than-plus-16 scoring differential in the second half. And there’s a strong chance Gould will be asked to convert much-needed field-goal tries down the stretch, particularly as the weather gets worse in November and December. Perhaps even January.

The Niners re-signed Gould during the offseason to be reliable, and it hasn’t been the case so far in 2019.

3 49ers who underwhelmed in Week 9 win vs. Cardinals. dark. Next

For San Francisco’s strong run to continue, Gould will need to rediscover his reliable ways.