Let's get the obvious out of the way: Jake Moody missed some kicks in San Francisco. You've heard the takes. You've seen the memes. The consensus is that Moody is a shaky kicker who rode a wave of draft capital and a strong supporting cast to more opportunities than his performance deserved. That narrative is tidy. It's also incomplete.
Washington's re-signing of Moody to a one-year deal in March 2026 didn't move many needles nationally. The Commanders already had Drew Stevens on the roster. Moody was a third-round pick who struggled in some moments, right?
Not so fast.
If you're looking for a tidy story about a kicker who lost his job because he can't hit from distance, you're reading the wrong column. I'm here to argue the overlooked angle: Jake Moody is significantly better than his reputation suggests, and Washington's kicking room might be deeper than anyone is giving it credit for.
The Raw Numbers: What You Think You Know
Moody's career field goal percentage sits at 82.0 percent across his NFL seasons. That's middle of the pack -- roughly 22nd among qualified kickers in recent years. Not elite. Not disastrous. But context matters more than any single percentage.
The popular take points to his 2025 season, where he hit just 84.2 percent of his field goals and missed three extra points. Those misses came in high-leverage spots: a 52-yarder that would have forced overtime against the Rams in Week 3, and a 47-yard miss in a two-point loss to the Vikings. The narrative writes itself: Moody can't handle pressure.
But here's what the narrative leaves out.
The Context the Consensus Ignores
First, Moody attempted 12 field goals of 50 yards or longer in 2025. That's tied for the fifth-most in the league. He made nine of them -- a 75 percent conversion rate -- which is above the league average of about 71.4 percent from that distance. By any measure, Moody was a weapon from deep.
The misses that defined his season? One was a 62-yard try into a crosswind against the Bears. Another was a 58-yarder in freezing rain at Green Bay. These weren't chip shots. San Francisco's aggressive approach put Moody in situations where even a miss doesn't reveal fundamental accuracy issues.
Second, Moody's leg strength is elite. On kickoffs, 72.1 percent of his attempts resulted in touchbacks in 2025, with an average hang time over 4.1 seconds. For context, that's better than Justin Tucker's kickoff metrics over the 2024 season. Washington's special teams coordinator will value a kicker who consistently blankets the end zone -- especially with the NFL's evolving kickoff rules rewarding distance and hang time.
Where This Fits Washington's Roster Puzzle
The Commanders have two kickers: Moody and Drew Stevens. Stevens is a rookie with a strong leg but no NFL game experience. Moody brings 60 games of NFL experience, including playoff appearances and a Super Bowl run. If this is a competition, Moody starts with a significant advantage -- both in experience and leg strength that fits head coach Dan Quinn's style.
Quinn is not a coach who shies away from aggressive special teams play. His prior work shows units pushing for strategic field position advantages rather than settling for "safe" plays. A kicker who can reliably convert from 55-plus yards adds a critical weapon: the ability to threaten points well beyond a typical kicker's comfortable range, influencing offensive strategy late in drives.
Washington's offense features a dynamic but still developing quarterback in Jayden Daniels. The receiving corps has proven stars like Terry McLaurin but lacks consistent downfield threats behind him. When the offense stalls around midfield, a long-range kicker who can convert from 53 yards changes the calculus for coordinator David Blough. What was once a risky 4th down from midfield may become a manageable field goal attempt.
The Real Competition: Moody vs. The Roster's Needs
This isn't about Moody being a top-five kicker across the board. The more nuanced case is that the Commanders didn't sign a broken player. They signed a kicker who has been asked to do more than most, who met or exceeded league-average accuracy from long distance, and whose misses were magnified by context rather than mechanics.
The alternatives were not particularly promising. Washington could have stuck with Stevens as the sole kicker or pursued free agents like Eddy Piñeiro or Brandon McManus, both known for inconsistency. Instead, they chose a 27-year-old third-round pick who proved in 2024 that he can hit 90 percent of his field goals and convert all extra points -- a track record that deserves more respect.
Moody's 2024 season is a glaring omission from casual narratives. That year's performance shows his potential ceiling, suggesting the 2025 regression was more about challenging usage and situational factors than a fall-off in ability. This signing is a low-risk, high-upside acquisition for a team that needs dependability rather than fireworks from its kicker.
What This Means for the Depth Chart
As of spring 2026, the kicking position is open competition. But evaluating track records, Moody is the clear favorite to be the starter. Stevens, despite his strong leg, remains unproven at the NFL level and more likely to compete for a practice squad role.
Moody's contract and experience are advantages. The key for Washington's staff will be to manage his kicking attempts wisely: limit the extreme long-range attempts, focus on consistent conditions, and let him leverage his elite kickoff leg to influence field position.
If managed correctly, Moody could rebound to an 88-90 percent field goal accuracy rate -- placing him among the NFL's top dozen kickers.
The Broader Picture: Adam Peters' Philosophy
General manager Adam Peters favors acquiring undervalued players whose dip in market value reflects circumstances, not skill. Moody fits this approach perfectly: a kicker miscast as a liability due to unfortunate misses in high-profile moments, discarded prematurely despite solid overall metrics.
Peters' roster moves reinforce that he bet on talent and data over hype. From trading for Laremy Tunsil to signing contributors like Charles Omenihu and Ahkello Witherspoon, Peters builds with an eye on fundamental value.
Here, the data supports Moody's upside. The loud misses received headlines, but the broader context tells a different tale -- one of a kicker with a strong leg, solid accuracy from long distance, and potential for resurgence in a better-suited environment.
Don't panic over the missed kicks. Pay attention to the 75 percent success rate on attempts beyond 50 yards. That's the number that matters.
Washington's kicking situation, at least, might be more stable -- and promising -- than most fans realize.