3 NFL special teams players who could be game-changers next season
By Kinnu Singh
Across the NFL, there are a handful of special teams players who are slated to make a significant difference on the roster in 2023.
Football is often expressed as a strict dichotomy, but it is not a perfect one. Usually, one team must lose for the other to win, but there’s the occasional tie that shakes up divisional standings. The offense must triumph over the defense in order to score, yet these are not the only two phases of the game — and they’re not the only positional units that can score points.
The oft-overlooked special teams unit is responsible for kickoffs, punts, returns and field goals, a group that is unparalleled in its unique roles and intense undertakings. Games have been won through returning for touchdowns, although more strenuously, it often comes down to a hit-or-miss kick by the placekicker. As clutch as the special teams unit can be, these players tend to fall in the draft and find refuge from roster cuts as special teamers. Few can appreciate the difference a precise punter makes in pinning opponents near the endzone, especially when this skill will become obsolete under the NFL’s latest amendment to kick returns.
Still, special teams players can make a difference in the league, whether it’s as an early-round kicker or as an undrafted kick returner. Here are three special teams players from across the NFL who have the potential to uplift their respective teams based on their specialized skill sets.
NFL special teams game-changers: 3. San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody
Despite their importance, placekickers remain seventh-round afterthoughts in most drafts. Not in 2023, when the San Francisco 49ers spent their third-round pick on Michigan product Jake Moody. Drafted at No. 99, Moody became only the second kicker in the past 15 NFL Drafts to be selected within the top 100 picks.
Although unorthodox, the 49ers did address one of their most significant roster concerns after the departure of 40-year-old kicker Robbie Gould in March. Gould provided San Francisco with reliability since 2017, and he remained among the NFL’s best in 2022. According to Rotowire, Gould converted “84 percent of his field-goal attempts (27-for-32) across 17 regular-season games in 2022.” To compensate for his loss, the 49ers traded with the Carolina Panthers to acquire Zane Gonzalez, a journeyman kicker who missed the entire 2022 season due to injury. Soon after, they drafted Moody.
At the college level, Moody wasn’t far behind Gould in field goal conversion percentage in 2022. Moody converted 26 of 32 field goal attempts (81.25 percent) during the regular season. Moody set a Michigan record in the postseason by scoring 147 total points, besting Desmond Howard’s 138-point season in 1991. That wasn’t the only Michigan record Moody set: he also holds the school’s record for most career points (355) and the longest field goal (59 yards). Understandably, he was the first to go in the draft, especially when other teams such as the New England Patriots were in need of a solid kicker.
Suppose Moody offers the same reliability as Gould. It may not stand out to every 49ers fan, but that is a remarkable level of consistency from any NFL kicker, let alone a rookie. Assuming that Moody wins the battle over Gonzalez in camp, the 49ers will at least have one less thing to worry about for several years. At best, Moody could be the difference in a third consecutive 49ers NFC Championship game.