Commanders cut Jake Moody, hand kicking job to undrafted Iowa rookie Drew Stevens
Washington released veteran kicker Jake Moody on Sunday, ending the training camp competition after one preseason game and turning the season opener over to undrafted free agent Drew Stevens. The decision caps a turbulent, kicker-carousel era in Ashburn.
In brief
Commanders cut Jake Moody, hand kicking job to undrafted Iowa rookie Drew Stevens
One preseason game. That's all it took for the Washington Commanders to make up their minds.
The Washington Post reported Sunday afternoon that the Commanders are releasing veteran kicker Jake Moody, effectively ending a training camp competition that had stretched across the entire offseason program. The move hands the starting job to undrafted rookie Drew Stevens. NBC Sports Washington insider JP Finlay confirmed it first on social media: "Kicking competition is over in DC - Commanders release Jake Moody, per source, and Washington will roll forward with rookie Drew Stevens."
The team had not yet made the move official as of Sunday evening. Moody had entered OTAs as the incumbent and held the early edge in the competition, but the front office apparently saw enough after one preseason game to pull the trigger. That game, a 20-7 Commanders preseason win over the Miami Dolphins on Aug. 14 at Northwest Stadium in Landover, ended up deciding the whole thing.
The deciding moment wasn't complicated. In the preseason opener, both kickers converted their only field-goal attempts and extra points - Moody from 29 yards, Stevens from 41. The big difference was that Moody hit the right upright with a resounding doink, while Stevens converted his kick smoothly. One crossbar collision, and a veteran lost his job to a guy who wasn't drafted.
The numbers across camp backed up what the eye test showed. The final totals were Stevens 43-for-48 (89.6 percent) and Moody 36-for-47 (76.6 percent). That's not a close race. The front office had their eyes on this matchup long before Friday and decided Stevens had simply been the more consistent kicker.
Who is Drew Stevens?
Stevens walked off the University of Iowa campus this spring without a draft selection, which makes this outcome all the more striking. His Iowa records include 76 made field goals and 12 from 50-plus yards, plus a career-long of 58. That 58-yarder isn't a fluke. His leg was never the question - reliability in an NFL regular season is.
After forcing this competition closed after one preseason game, Stevens will have to prove he has what it takes to get it done over the course of an 18-week NFL season. The Commanders open the regular season with Dorance Armstrong already suspended for the opener due to a personal conduct violation. They do not need another unexpected storyline in September.
The kicker carousel that won't stop
This is not the first time Adam Peters has gone kicker shopping - or the second, or the third. Gay was the eighth kicker signed by general manager Adam Peters, who joined the Commanders in January 2024. Moody was to be the ninth. Now Stevens is the tenth name in that line.
The backstory on Moody is almost Shakespearean by Washington standards. The Commanders brought Moody in mid-season last year after releasing Matt Gay one day after he missed two kicks, including what would have been a game winner, in a 16-13 overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins in Madrid. Moody had made a game-winning kick for the Bears against the Commanders in Week 6 of that same season - so Washington literally paid the guy who beat them to come fix the problem.
He was serviceable enough to keep his job through the winter, arriving at Ashburn this summer as the expected starter. Then an undrafted rookie outworked him through six weeks of training camp.
What this means for the 2026 Commanders
The 2026 season is Washington's 95th in the NFL and their third under the tandem of general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn. The Commanders seek to improve on an injury-riddled 5-12 record from 2025. Dan Quinn's rebuilt roster - new uniforms, new coordinators in David Blough on offense and Daronte Jones on defense, a deep receiving corps - genuinely looks more competitive this summer. The joint practice against the Miami Dolphins was described as one of the biggest tests of training camp.
But kicking has haunted this franchise for years. Gay missed two potential game-changers in Madrid last season. Before Gay, it was Greg Joseph shanking kicks in the Superdome. The position has cost Washington real games in close contests. For Stevens, this is the absolute best outcome he could have imagined after being brought in to push Moody and keep him from getting complacent. Now he owns the job outright before Labor Day.
Separately, quarterback Marcus Mariota will miss the rest of the preseason after spraining his MCL against the Dolphins, thinning the backup quarterback room behind Jayden Daniels. The Commanders have an open training camp practice scheduled for Aug. 18 and 19 in Ashburn, so fans will get a look at the reconfigured depth chart quickly.
Stevens will kick his first regular-season NFL field goal at Northwest Stadium - though the date and opponent on that ticket haven't been confirmed in the last 24 hours. What is confirmed: the kid from Iowa beat out a veteran with NFL playoff experience, and he did it in roughly four hours of football.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
