Who Should I Start? Michael Badgley or Jake Moody

Tuesday, March 4, 3:15 PM

The Detroit Lions recently cleared veteran kicker Michael Badgley (groin) from the torn groin that kept him out for all of last season, a source tells NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. While Badgley has made a full recovery, he's now set to become a free agent next week. With the 29-year-old out of commission all year, Jake Bates served as Detroit's regular kicker and was very reliable, missing only three of his 29 field-goal attempts in 17 regular-season games while missing three of his 67 extra-point attempts in his first year in the league. Because of how good Bates looked in 2024, it's likely that the Lions will let Badgley walk in free agency as he heads into his eighth year in the NFL. Badgley has a career 82.4 percent success rate on 119 field-goal attempts in 64 games played. In four games with Detroit in 2023, he made all four of his FGs and went 13-for-15 on extra points.

Saturday, January 4, 12:44 AM

San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody will spend the final game of his turbulent 2024 season in Arizona to face the Cardinals. The former third-round pick has had a rough couple of weeks. In Week 18 against Detroit, Moody missed field goals from 51 and 58 yards, while missing one extra point out of five chances. In Week 17 against Miami, Moody missed from 41 yards after hitting from 21 yards while connecting on both extra-point attempts. Moody had accuracy issues on the road even before that, which makes Sunday an important chance to demonstrate competence ahead of the 2025 campaign. Arizona has allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to kickers this season. Moody -- tenuously clinging to his job -- is RotoBaller's 15th-ranked kicker in Week 18.