The Washington Commanders have a new name atop their kicking depth chart, and they’re hoping this one sticks.
On Monday, the team announced that Iowa rookie Drew Stevens won the kicking competition. To make room, Washington released incumbent Jake Moody.
Moody’s run with the Commanders was short and turbulent. He arrived during the 2025 season after being signed off the Bears’ practice squad.
Before that, he had joined Chicago in 2025 after the 49ers let him go. He began his NFL journey with San Francisco, then moved on, then moved again, and Washington has now moved on as well.
For a franchise that has spent years cycling through kickers, the latest change fits a familiar pattern. Washington’s history at the position has been anything but stable, with the team leaning on a long list of legs over the last two decades.
The most extreme example in modern memory came under former head coach Ron Rivera, who cut Dustin Hopkins after a lopsided home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021. Rivera then signed Chris Blewitt, a kicker with no previous NFL experience who had not attempted a field goal in a game in five seasons. Blewitt went 2-for-5 in two games and was quickly released.
Current general manager Adam Peters has also dealt with the position’s volatility, making several moves over his three seasons. None matched Rivera’s Blewitt decision, but Washington still had to keep searching because of injuries and inconsistency.
The list of kickers the Commanders have used in the last 20 NFL seasons tells the story: Jake Moody, Matthew Wright and Matt Gay in 2025; Cade York, Austin Seibert, Greg Joseph and Zane Gonzalez in 2024; Joey Slye in 2023; Slye and Tress Way in 2022; then a long 2021 carousel that included Dustin Hopkins, Chris Blewitt, Joey Slye, Brian Johnson and Tress Way.
Before that came more familiar names like Hopkins, Kai Forbath, Graham Gano, Shaun Suisham, John Hall and Nick Novak, with Hopkins holding the job longer than most of the others in recent memory.
The hope now is simple: Drew Stevens ends the churn.
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