49ers roster bubble watch with 2023 NFL Draft in the books
By Peter Panacy
49ers roster bubble watch: Special teams
Lock: Jake Moody*, Taybor Pepper, Mitch Wishnowsky
Strong bubble: None
Weak bubble: Zane Gonzalez
Long shot: None
*denotes rookie
For years now, San Francisco's special teams battery consisted of the trio of long-snapper Taybor Pepper, punter Mitch Wishnowsky and kicker Robbie Gould. No one else.
Gould is gone now, and he's not coming back. Not after the 49ers traded for former Carolina Panthers kicker Zane Gonzalez...
And then used a third-round pick on Michigan kicker Jake Moody in the draft.
Barring a complete meltdown in training camp and/or the preseason, Moody isn't going anywhere unless he gets hurt. The Niners wouldn't use a third-round pick on a specialist unless they were willing to take a long chance on him.
The only way Gonzalez hangs around is as insurance if Moody gets hurt.