Washington Commanders' Kicker Competition Adds Intrigue in 2026

With OTAs officially complete, the Washington Commanders may have several questions that mandatory minicamp can help answer with a handful of the skill positions and secondary still worth watching, but there's another storyline heading into the 2026 regular season on special teams.

The Commanders went out and added a kicker following the 2026 NFL Draft after first inviting former Iowa kicker Drew Stevens to rookie minicamp, then inking him as an undrafted free agent after drawing interest from other teams including the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans.

It made sense why Stevens materialized into an undrafted free agent with interest around the league given he ended his career with the Hawkeyes with the program record for field goals made (76), 50-plus yard field goals (12) along with second in career points (352).

Stevens now arrives in Washington looking to shake up the starting kicker job as coordinator Larry Izzo admitted the two are on an "even playing field" ahead of the chance to separate through the offseason into preseason.

Stevens also drilled a 58-yard field goal in the narrow loss vs. ninth-ranked Oregon in early November to showcase his power, a trait that Izzo admitted was "one thing we liked about him," but he also has questions to answer at the NFL level.

While he was efficient inside 40 yards after making all but three of his 47 career attempts, Stevens made just two-thirds of his attempts beyond that distance, including 20-of-28 over his final two seasons.

Jake Moody has had questions to answer in the NFL after ending his time in San Francisco making just 23 of his 37 attempts beyond 40 yards, along with a 74.2% scoring rate during his three seasons. Yet his time in Washington ended on a much different note after drilling all but one of his 11 attempts with his lone miss coming on a 24-yard attempt in the season finale vs. Philadelphia.

Washington made sure to fill any void at the position this offseason after electing to re-sign Moody hours not being tendered, making the return of both specialists a possibility with Tress Way back for another season.

"He's a veteran so he's been in situations and we'll anticipate how he'll react to those situations based on his history," Izzo said of Moody.

While Moody and Stevens have been able to practice on a handful of attempts to close practices during OTAs, it's marked a chance for Stevens to flash his power to local media after noting in week one he's comfortable from 60 to 65 yards away in a dome setting. Yet with a chance for Stevens to prove his accuracy and Moody to prove the consistency he flashed in his short stint in 2025, Izzo knows what he's looking for from his two kickers ahead of 2026.

"Their consistency, their accuracy, their makes. Are they shaving it close every time or are they hitting it more in the middle? But at the end of the day, it's about making the kicks and that's going to be the number one factor in who's going to be here."

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