49ers coach defends kicker as nightmare start draws brutal comparison
The San Francisco 49ers made the audacious choice to pick Jake Moody in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft - far earlier than teams usually select kickers. So far, so bad: Moody's terrible first preseason outing on Sunday has drawn unwanted comparisons to Roberto Aguayo, the last kicker taken so early, as he missed both of his field goal attempts.
Aguayo, a second-round pick in 2016, infamously finished his rookie season with the worst conversion rate in the NFL and was cut the next year. San Francisco wants to avoid such a disappointing outcome with Moody.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan defended the Michigan graduate after the 34-7 defeat to the Las Vegas Raiders, hoping to restore some confidence following errant attempts from 40 and 58 yards. “I’m not [concerned],” Shanahan said. “It’s unfortunate because I know the pressure on him and everyone’s looking. And I know he missed those two today. He’s been great in practice. He’s hit them all.”
On the 58-yard attempt, Shanahan added: “I was just excited to attempt a long one. Which was fun. Until it was missed.”
Moody drilled plenty of high-pressure field goals in college as a member of a team consistently ranked in the top 25. He made 69 of 84 attempts in college, plus all 148 extra-point tries. So, he said it won't be difficult to brush aside his unfortunate introduction. He's "glad it happened now" rather than during the regular season.
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“It’s already washed away,” Moody told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I was hoping we could have one more [attempt] just so I could prove that those were flukes. Those were not normal. I wanted one more to just kind of feel better. But I just have to wait until next week.
“I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing because it’s been working,” Moody said. “You’re going to have games like that regardless of who you are. Just move on to the next one and make the next kick. That’s all that’s going through my head right now: Just make the next kick.”
Jake Moody was the highest-drafted kicker since 2016. (Getty Images)San Francisco decided to select Moody so early in part because of its style of play. The 49ers boast one of the best defenses in the NFL, which enables them to prioritize ball control and turnover avoidance on offense. They have ranked in the top half of the league in field goal attempts in each of the past two campaigns — and that was with Robbie Gould virtually unusable in long-range situations because of his relatively weak leg.
Gould left the 49ers this offseason but has not yet found a new team despite being adamant he didn't want to retire. "I’m nowhere near retiring,” Gould said. “I got a lot left to do from a career perspective — No. 1 being winning a Super Bowl. And, two, I’m pretty close to a lot of milestones I think would be pretty neat to be able to accomplish."
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