[New post] 49ers’ rookie kicker Moody aims to meet the Gould standard
gqlshare posted: "SANTA CLARA — It's the last play of practice Tuesday, and all eyes are on Jake Moody.The 49ers' hand-picked successor to place kicker Robbie Gould did not disappoint, drilling a field goal attempt from 60 yards out in front of teammates " Daily Democrat
SANTA CLARA — It's the last play of practice Tuesday, and all eyes are on Jake Moody.
The 49ers' hand-picked successor to place kicker Robbie Gould did not disappoint, drilling a field goal attempt from 60 yards out in front of teammates and fans in the stands.
As impressive as the kick was, it didn't come as a surprise. Kickers aren't selected in the third round of the NFL Draft unless they can convert field goal attempts long, short and everywhere in between.
Leading up to the final kick, Moody had converted from 33, 38, 48 and 53 yards. Which was all well and good except for a miss from 43 yards out.
"That's one I want back and one where I want to prove that's not what I'm about," Moody said, adding that the 60-yarder was "a good way to end practice."
In reality, things are just beginning for Moody, whose selection was criticized in some quarters for being far too early with the 99th overall selection. Moody was the 49ers' second pick after Penn State Ji'Ayr Brown, who was taken at No. 87.
But Brown, the rest of the rookie class and basically the entire 49ers roster aren't facing the kind of pressure which will be put on Moody. At the very least, Moody will score more points than anyone on the 49ers, as Gould did for the last six seasons.
Given the 49ers' firepower, Moody could end up one of the NFL's leading scorers, although coach Kyle Shanahan would love to pile up many more extra points than field goal attempts.
Yet it will be the timing of those points on which Moody will be judged, whether it's delivering in a swirling Levi's Stadium wind or coming through with the game on the line at Pittsburgh in Week 1, which is considered one of the NFL's toughest venues for a place kicker.
Both Moody and veteran kicker Zane Gonzalez have enjoyed strong camps through six practices. That's better than having a bad camp, but it's roughly similar to a baseball closer getting a few guys out with a 10-run lead rather than coming in with the bases loaded and needing one out for a save.
The man Moody is replacing was the Gould standard in that regard, with a career record of 29-for-29 in the postseason on field goal attempts and 39-for-39 on extra points for 126 points in 16 playoff games.
Gould, 40, left the 49ers as a free agent without receiving an offer, and the 49ers, of course, weren't about to say why. Factors included his age, field goal range and the fact that he kicked off 95 times last season despite feeling he was better off giving that job to someone else.
Special teams coordinator Brian Schneider, whose input was vital to naming Gould's successor, has liked what he's seen so far from Moody.
"He's doing really well," Schneider said. "We're trying to get him a little bit of everything and trying to get in all situations. The last one was 60 and we backed him up on it. He's right on schedule, doing everything he needs to do."
At 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, Moody's leg strength is undeniable. He was 69-for-84 (82.1 percent) as a junior and senior at Michigan after first serving as a kickoff specialist. He never missed a point-after-touchdown in 148 attempts and was the Lou Groza Award winner as the nation's top place kicker in 2021.
Although an excellent high school athlete, Moody has always been a bit of a kicking nerd. As the story goes, he was so excited to meet Detroit kicker Matt Prater that he didn't even notice he was also in the presence of Calvin "Megatron" Johnson, a Hall of Fame wide receiver.
The 49ers believe Moody will prepare for the intricacies of his job as well as be strong enough mentally to handle the inevitable failures.
Jake Moody won the Lou Groza Award as the nation's top place kicker at Michigan last season.
One thing Moody refuses to do is dwell on a bad kick other than to understand why it happened — something he says he knows instantly.
"It's good for me to acknowledge why I missed just to know what I'm doing wrong so that I can not do that on the next kick," Moody said. "You flush it and then move on to the next kick and the next kick."
Moody has been challenged by the pace of practice, which finds place kickers working on their own until such a time when they are called upon to begin kicking in the 30-yard range and moving back five yards at a time in quick fashion.
"The field goal period at Michigan is intense, but here we're hitting field goals rapid fire and you've got to be on your game," Moody said. "You can't be in a bad mindset, you've got to be locked in at all times and you've got to be ready when they call you out there."
Moody has quickly bonded with Gonzalez, the other kicker in camp and a seven-year veteran, as well as long-snapper Pepper and punter/holder Mitch Wishnowsky. Gonzalez and Moody are competitors in the sense that they're kicking against each other, but not in the sense that Gonzalez could end up being the 49ers' kicker.
Schneider was sold on Moody in part because of a pre-draft workout at Michigan where there was no capable snapper, only a couple of backup tight ends.
"I think it was good in a sense of preparing me for any situation that might unfold, whether Taybor gets hurt, or Mitch could get hurt and I could have a backup snapper, a backup holder at any given time," Moody said. "You've got to just roll with the punches."
The truth is we won't know anything about Moody until he lines up for his first potential game-winner and we'll learn even more when we see how he bounces back from his first big miss.
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