The 49ers punting team has been the worst in the league.
It’s no secret that the San Francisco 49ers special teams have been bottom of the barrel this season. Heading into Week 7, that unit was 31st in DVOA.
Punter Mitch Wishnowsky has struggled this season. The 49ers are 32nd in net yards per punt, and Wishnowky missing his spots as he did yesterday is a big reason why:
The 49ers are 32nd in net yards per punt. Here’s how
5 players releasing to the left tells me the punt needs to be inside the numbers, where the coverage is. If you miss, err on the side of going out of bounds, not to the MOF
3 players fall. Returner goes untouched for 55 yards pic.twitter.com/ncLUz21Pza
— Kyle Posey (@KP_Show) October 21, 2024
The 49ers have allowed the fifth-most return yards on Wishnowsky’s punts. He’s 19th in average hangtime and 33rd among 36 punters in net yards.
The Niners will have another game, at least, without kicker Jake Moody. Anders Carlson hit a 55-yarder but missed the extra point.
Carlson had three kickoffs, two of which were returned for 59 yards. Kyle Shanahan has stated that the goal is to always have a touchback. Thirty-three percent is not going to cut it.
Aaron Wilson tweeted that the 49ers worked out Jake Gerardi, a kicking specialist who was a first-team All-American at the FCS level as a redshirt senior from Southern Utah in 2022.
Gerardi, a left-footed punter, was invited to the Kansas City Chiefs rookie mini-camp but does not have any game experience.
He’s a big fella, at 6-3, 250 pounds. Looking through Southern Utah’s game logs, Gerardi was called upon and made his rare field goal attempts.
But if he is signed to the practice squad or the active roster, it’s because of Wishnowky’s season. Mitch suffered knee irritation early during training camp but hasn’t missed a game or been listed on the injury report during the regular season.
The 49ers are looking for more out of their punter, and perhaps Gerardi will be the answer the team is looking for.
It’s also worth noting that the Dallas Cowboys have a left-footed punter, and the 49ers are bringing in Gerardi to practice fielding punts with a different spin on it.