Who is the 49ers kicker? Meet Matthew Wright, rocket scientist and NFL journeyman on fifth team

The 49ers needed to find a kicker replacement on a short week after Jake Moody suffered a high ankle sprain in a loss to the Cardinals last Sunday.

San Francisco reportedly brought in a foursome of kicker candidates but ultimately settled on NFL journeyman Matthew Wright to handle duties for Week 6.

Wright has kicked for four different teams over five years since he made his NFL debut in 2020. The UCF product has had an unorthodox career in the league, also spending time as an aerospace engineer for Lockheed Martin during his downtime of the NFL grind.

Learn more about 49ers new kicker Wright below.

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Who is the 49ers kicker?

The 49ers signed Wright to a one-year contract to replace injured starting kicker Moody.

The 27-year-old has played four seasons in the NFL, kicking for four different teams prior to signing with San Francisco. He has also spent time on eight different NFL practice squads.

Wright was the kicker of UCF's undefeated "National Championship" squad in 2017.

How many NFL teams has Matthew Wright played for?

Wright has kicked for four different NFL franchises prior to his first game with the 49ers on "Thursday Night Football."

He made his debut with the Steelers in 2020 and has bounced around to the Jaguars (2021), Chiefs (2022), Steelers again (2022) and Panthers (2023).

He has also been a part of practice squads with the Lions, Falcons, Patriots, and 49ers, in addition to the teams he played real NFL games for.

Matthew Wright NFL stats

Wright has made 40 of 47 field goal attempts (85.1%) and 35 of 37 extra-point attempts (94.6%) in his career.

Matthew Wright rocket scientist career, explained

Wright was an aerospace engineer intern at Lockheed Martin during his time at UCF, where he majored in aerospace engineering.

Lockheed Martin offered Wright a full-time job following his graduation from UCF in 2018, which he accepted and worked until 2021 once he pursued an NFL career in 2020.