49ers invite Lou Groza Award winner to rookie minicamp
The 49ers have invited Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun kicker Kenneth Almendares to their rookie minicamp on a tryout basis, according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Almendares won the Lou Groza Award as the top kicker in college football after a stellar 2024 season. He made 28 of his 31 field goal attempts with a long of 53 yards with conversions on all but one of his 47 extra points. The 25-year-old also earned first-team All-American and first-team All-Sun Belt honors.
If Almendares impresses in his tryout, he could have an opportunity to push Jake Moody – himself a Lou Groza winner at Michigan in 2021 – for the 49ers’ kicking job.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said in early April that the team would bring in competition for Moody after a disappointing 2024 season, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. The 2023 third-round pick missed time with an ankle injury and converted just 24 of his 34 field goal attempts after making 21 of his 25 tries as a rookie.
Moody especially struggled from distance last year. Six of his nine attempts from 40 or more yards in 2023 went through the uprights, but only 10 of his 20 such attempts in 2024 did the same. Almendares, meanwhile, led the FBS in made field goals in 2024 with a 90.3% conversion rate that ranked first among all kickers with at least 25 attempts.
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