The San Francisco 49ers proved they weren't joking around when they hired former New York Jets special teams coordinator Brant Boyer earlier this offseason in an attempt to wholly overhaul a disjointed and disappointing third phase of the game.
Boyer made his marks early, too, influencing the Niners' initial free-agent pickups before making the call to part ways with two key specialists, long-snapper Taybor Pepper and punter Mitch Wishnowsky, replacing them with Jon Weeks and Thomas Morstead, respectively.
That left kicker Jake Moody, the embattled former third-round draftee, as the lone specialist remaining from the pre-Boyer era.
Moody's massive regression late in 2024 (one that paralleled arguably the biggest kicker bust in NFL history, Roberto Aguayo) prompted Boyer and the Niners to bring in offseason competition, Greg Joseph, who modestly outshone the 2023 draft pick during mandatory minicamp.
True, minicamp isn't the true start of this offseason competition. But, in light of the offseason transactions and Joseph's presumed early lead in the position battle, it's not hard to see where Boyer wants to go.
Brant Boyer holds Jake Moody's future in his hands
The fact Moody wasn't waived outright upon Boyer's arrival is a good sign for the former Michigan kicker. But it's not a roster-saving one.
Beyond just winning the camp competition outright over Joseph, Moody will have to convince Boyer he's worth retaining, based on both reliability and consistency -- two factors that were wholly absent down the stretch last season.
And it might end up being a matter of preference, too. The longstanding coordinator certainly wants to leave his own fingerprints on San Francisco's special teams battery, and Boyer has already done so by swapping out both the punter and long-snapper spots.
Remember, Boyer inherited Moody. The coordinator effectively chose Joseph.
Should the camp competition for kicking duties result in a so-called tie (or even Moody holding a slight lead), Boyer still has the authority to go with his own hand-picked option, Joseph, rather than sticking with the incumbent.
If that's the case, the 49ers' experiment with a failed draft pick would finally come to a merciful end.