With the San Francisco 49ers set to kick off their 2025 season this Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, we thought we'd take one last look at the team's individual player ratings in "Madden NFL 26" before the numbers started to change.
Yes, we're completely aware that the latest edition of the EA Sports classic has been available to play for several weeks now, but a quick refresher never hurt anyone, right?
For those who may not be aware, the Niners have five players ranked in the top five at their respective positions heading into the season, two of whom are ranked No. 1, those being tight end George Kittle (98) and linebacker Fred Warner (97). Trent Williams (97) ranks second among all offensive linemen, Christian McCaffrey (94) ranks fourth among all running backs, and Nick Bosa (95) ranks fifth among all edge rushers.
But then there's the other end of the spectrum.
Now, we clearly understand that Madden ratings mean absolutely nothing to actual football games. But we also know that a plethora of players throughout the league pay close attention to their rating and undoubtedly don't want to be anywhere near the bottom of the list at their position.
We have no idea if Jake Moody is one of those players. But if not, someone has undoubtedly told him that of the 37 kickers currently listed on the official "Madden NFL 26" ratings page, he's tied for dead last with an overall rating of 69.
To make matters worse, only one of the other four with that same 69 rating is on an active roster right now, that being Spencer Schrader of the Indianapolis Colts. The other three consist of Schrader's competition during Colts camp, Maddux Trujillo, who was waived with an injury designation during final cuts, Harrison Mevis, who resides on the New York Jets' practice squad, and John Parker Romo, who currently has no team after being cut by the New England Patriots.
So, yeah, that's not a good look for Moody. But it's also not all that surprising, given how things have gone for the 2023 third-round pick.
After missing six total field goals and a pair of extra points between the regular season and playoffs as a rookie, Moody missed a whopping 10 field goals in 2024, connecting on just 24 of 34 attempts, also missing another extra-point attempt.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan brought in some competition last year, which Moody survived, and did so again this year in veteran Greg Joseph. The battle was actually shaping up to be one of the most entertaining of Niners' training camp, and one has to wonder how things would have played out had Shanahan not been forced to cut Joseph due to all the injuries San Francisco suffered.
Moody had some nice moments during the preseason, including his game-winning field goal in a win over the Las Vegas Raiders, but he also got stared down something fierce by Shanahan the next week after sailing a kickoff out of bounds following a 49ers touchdown.
Moody remains the guy for now, but if he starts to slip up even a little, the Niners may just have to own up to making a mistake by drafting a kicker in the third round and part ways with him—and his abysmal Madden rating.