Tag: Kyle Nelson

The 49ers ran into a minor issue early in their 2019 season. While everything else was going right for the team, veteran kicker Robbie Gould was having the worst year of his career. If the duration of the 2019 season tells us anything though, that shouldn’t be an issue for the club moving forward.

Gould by Week 7 last season had a career-worst seven missed field goals. He missed one in each of the first two weeks, three in Week 5, and another one each in Weeks 6 and 7.

It looked like a long holdout had an adverse effect on what was one of the league’s most accurate kickers the previous two seasons. And perhaps an offseason-long battle that started with Gould getting the franchise tag and refusing to sign it before eventually getting a multi-year deal to stay in Santa Clara did impact the then 36-year-old.

There may have been something else at play though. San Francisco cycled through three different long snappers last year before the return of Kyle Nelson from a 10-game suspension that started late in the 2018 campaign.

Colin Holba, who took over for Nelson in 2018, handled the first two games of the 2019 season. Jon Condo stepped in for Week 3, but retired before he could suit up for another game. That opened the door for Garrison Sanborn, who took over for the final three weeks of Nelson’s suspension.

Gould went 12-for-19 on field goal tries while those three long snappers cycled through.

Nelson’s return in Week 8 at home against the Panthers prompted a massive turnaround for Gould. He finished the regular season 11-of-12 on field goals, with his lone miss coming on a 51-yard attempt in sloppy, rainy, windy conditions in Baltimore. Gould was also a perfect seven-for-seven in the postseason.

It may have been a coincidence, but Gould’s 18-for-19 to finish the year with Nelson doing the snapping makes it appear as though the long snapper played an instrumental role. With no suspensions due for Nelson leading into 2020, he’s slated to be the long snapper for the entire season.

Gould is entering the second year of his four-year deal that includes team options in the final two seasons. A strong 2020 season could be the difference in whether the 49ers keep the long-time veteran, or go on a kicker search next offseason. If Nelson was actually the answer to Gould’s woes, San Francisco should be set at kicker for the next couple seasons.

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