The 49ers look to have their temporary kicker selected. After a five-specialist workout, San Francisco is going with Matthew Wright. The veteran fill-in will be added to the team’s practice squad, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets.
The 49ers lost starting kicker Jake Moody to a high ankle sprain during their Week 5 loss to the Cardinals, and their next game on Thursday gave them little time to find a replacement.
Wright has spent four years in the NFL as a mercenary kicker for teams in need of stopgap solutions due to injury like the 49ers. He played 14 games for the Jaguars in 2021 after Josh Lambo went down, and has also spent time with the Steelers, Chiefs, and Panthers. Wright has made 40 of his 47 career field goal attempts (85.7%), with a long of 59, and his PAT conversion rate is 94.6%.
Wright beat out Randy Bullock, Anders Carlson and Matt Coghlin for San Francisco’s kicking job, per Schefter. Riley Patterson also auditioned for the gig, according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Wright will have to quickly get on the same page as punter/holder Mitch Wishnowsky. Wishnowsky hit a 26-yard field goal against Arizona, but 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan declined to give him a chance from 44 yards, instead electing to attempt a fourth-and-23. The conversion failed, and the Cardinals would go on to score 10 unanswered points to win.
Wright is expected to be elevated from the practice squad for the 49ers’ Thursday matchup with the Seahawks. He will need to overcome a raucous Seattle crowd to help San Francisco keep up in the NFC West.
Great! Now sign Saleh to be the DC.
Agreed I think we need to be proactive on this and fire Sorenson. Saleh knows majority of these guys skillset and is familiar with the defense. I hope they go after him asap.
Happy for Wright. He was solid as a Steeler. Initially his kickoffs were weak but he improved them drastically over a couple of seasons.
49ers are on a short week before their trip to Seattle, plus Saleh likely has offset language in his Jets contract.
Surprised they didn’t try Brandon McManus instead.
No I think this was the Wright choice