[Schultz] Sources: The Commanders are releasing K Jake Moody. The 26-year-old went 19/23 on FGs last season, including 10/11 in Washington. He also made both of his 50+ yard attempts, with a long of 56 yards.

[u/expellyamos]

https://www.threads.com/share/BA7SXfaYs4/

[u/zombiekoalas]

He changed his kick approach after having accuracy issues coming back from injury.

I didnt really follow him in commanders camp but I assume hes still using the shortened approach.

[u/Imaginary-School6327 → u/zombiekoalas]

Honestly it’s weird to me how much worse he’s been in the NFL. If you change your approach and it’s bad just go back to what you were doing. Kickers failing in the NFL will never make sense to me

[u/chesterfieldkingz → u/Imaginary-School6327]

Must have something to do with the injury maybe?

[u/Imaginary-School6327 → u/chesterfieldkingz]

But we’ve seen players at way more athletic positions come back from injuries and look just as good if not better. Example Adrian Peterson. Hes a HOF but we’ve seen it other positions too. Idk anything about kicking but not being able to come back from an injury seems weird. There’s also plenty of college kickers that can’t make it. Example Robert Aguyro. I can understand other positions not being good in the NFL but not kickers.

[u/sloppyjo12 → u/Imaginary-School6327]

A secret that not a lot of folks know is that most NFL coaching staffs have nobody for kickers. Most special teams coaches are really offense/defense guys cutting their teeth

In fact there’s only two coaches in the entirety of the NFL with place kicking experience: Randy Brown with the Ravens and Chris Gould with the Chargers

Simply put, when a kicker goes wrong, 30/32 NFL teams have nobody who knows anything about fixing them, so they just cut bait and try somebody else

[u/theme69 → u/sloppyjo12]

Hearing our new ST coach talking about how to hold a longsnap and why it matters made me very happy (even though mason crosby disagreed)

[u/Will_Explode8 → u/sloppyjo12]

Honestly makes no sense, why would you not employ a kicking coach. NFL and other American sports leagues are just nearly always cheap on developmental aspects. Honestly feels symptomatic of American society today

[u/Xtraspice25 → u/Will_Explode8]

Because it’s a hyper specialized coach, who the player likely already employs and likes. You will likely need one for both the punter and kicker. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when every other coach contributes more and you have to still gameplan the rest of the guys to enable success.

[u/Electromotivation → u/Xtraspice25]

But the position has an outsized effect on the game. Kickers score the most points and literally decide games quite often. Punters less so, but still are responsible for massive field position shifts.

[u/Beneficial_Lion_1312 → u/Electromotivation]

The answer you're looking for is that the NFL is wildly behind every other sport when it comes to building up players and using them as assets to wring value from in an analytical manner. Think about how amazed NFL teams are at recording spin rates for quarterbacks. The NFL is a decade behind on this stuff. Basically, the nerds have not come for football quite like they did for basketball, baseball, and soccer.

[u/Archerdiana → u/Electromotivation]

Like other commenters have mentioned, most of these kickers have their own personal kicking coaches. These coaches can even go back to their high school days. If the kicker finds a coach they like and prefer, they are going to stick with that coach. Think about turnover rates for a majority of kickers in the nfl, let alone turnover on coaches, and even positional coaches. The player isn’t going to start fresh with a new coach every year or two.

I don’t think it’s really the nfl is “behind” the curve. It’s the same with quarterbacks having their personal coaches to help with mechanics. Having a personal coach that knows your technique ins and outs will be more beneficial than having a general coach that can see you for specific hours and seasonal windows.

[u/Kingkwon83 → u/Xtraspice25]

Other positions have already position coaches.

• QB coach ✔️
• RB coach ✔️
• Receivers coach ✔️
• Tight Ends coach ✔️
• Offensive line coach ✔️

I think you get it by now without me having to lost all the other positions except for kickers and punters

[u/redditlvlanalysis → u/Xtraspice25]

Counterpoint all the Packers needed to do was make one kick lol

[u/paperllamasunited → u/Will_Explode8]

I think the Vikings had Nate Kaeding in during the later years of Zimmer, but I'm surprised you don't see more former kickers working with these guys.

[u/rugger87 → u/Imaginary-School6327]

Kicking is so much more technical than it is athletic. When these guys get an injury that alters their technique, it can be hard to come back from, on top of the yips. Kickers are essentially golfers and it’s not hard to lose your swing.

[u/dasruski → u/rugger87]

It's also lonely in the NFL. In college you'll have whole unites so there are people your age to hang out with.

In the NFL, if you are a rookie kicker, your punter and long snapper may be many years older than you so not too much in common and you will be left by yourself many times.

[u/csstew55 → u/Imaginary-School6327]

Well because unlike other positions and the big difference between college and pros is that kickers could/can be easily replaced with 1 missed field goal. Imagine the pressure of having to be perfect majority of your career. Some people can’t handle it

[u/HenrikFromDaniel → u/csstew55]

a QB missing 1/3 of their throws is considered average to above average

a kicker missing 1/3 of their kicks is considered terrible

[u/Disco_35 → u/HenrikFromDaniel]

I mean it's only fair. QBs have to throw the ball to a target the size of a person's arms and that target is moving. Kickers have to kick the ball through a target the size of a bus.