With 49ers OTAs in full swing, we’re taking a position-by-position look at the team’s roster to figure out the strengths, weaknesses, potential dark horses to make the team and other nuggets about the players who will be competing for jobs on the 53-man roster.
The 49ers for the third time in Kyle Shanahan’s tenure as head coach will undergo some changes in their trio of specialists.
Kicker Robbie Gould remains unsigned in free agency and it became clear early in the offseason that the 40-year-old kicker was done playing for the 49ers. He joined the club when Shanahan took over in 2017 and worked as a reliable option for them for six seasons. Now they’ll have to make a change at kicker.
This isn’t the first time the 49ers have had to shuffle the special teams deck. They let punter Brad Pinion walk after the 2018 season and drafted punter Mitch Wishnowsky, who earned a contract extension before last season. They also shuffled through some long snappers in 2020 before landing on Taybor Pepper who has played every game for the club since.
While the 49ers are carrying two kickers into training camp, there won’t really be a competition at that spot. Here’s a quick rundown of the specialists on the 90-man roster: