Despite recent struggles from Jake Moody, the San Francisco 49ers still believe they have the right guy at kicker.
Moody is now 23-of-30 on field goal tries this season and missed again from 41 yards out in the 49ers’ 29-17 loss at the Miami Dolphins last Sunday.
Since returning from a right high-ankle sprain that he sustained in Week 5 trying to make a tackle on a kickoff return against the Arizona Cardinals, Moody has missed six field goal attempts.
That included a trio of missed field goals of 49, 50 and 44 yards at Tampa Bay in Week 10 and a pair of missed field goals in a snow storm at Buffalo from 45 and 55 yards in Week 13.
Though he misfired three times, Moody did connect on the game-winning, 44-yard field goal as time expired in the 49ers’ 23-20 win over the Bucs.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked on Thursday if recent inconsistencies raise any questions about Moody’s long-term future with the franchise.
“I still feel the same about him, that I believe he is going to be our guy. Everyone has got to perform and do things like that and I think he has had a tough year. I think before his high-ankle sprain, I think he was like, missed one. I think he was 12 of 13 before that.
“So I thought he was doing really well and then had a high-ankle sprain to his kicking foot. Since he’s come back, he hasn’t been as consistent, obviously. But I think a lot of that probably has to do with that, just common-sense wise. And hopefully he can get to this offseason, heal up and find a stroke again and play at a high level that I think he will, because he’s real talented,” Shanahan said.
Moody was actually one make better than Shanahan credited him for prior to suffering the high-ankle sprain against the Arizona Cardinals. The 6-foot-1, 210 pound kicker made 13 of his first 14 field goal tries on the season, including every kick from inside 50 yards.
Shanahan said that Moody has the mental makeup to bounce back from this recent tough stretch.
“I think he’s made of the right stuff just from a mental standpoint and everything and I think he has all the tools to be a great kicker in the this league. He’s still working to find that though,” Shanahan said.
Shanahan touched on how patience with kickers can be vital. To illustrate his point, Shanahan referred back to his time in Washington and the franchise’s decision to cut Graham Gano.
After being cut by Washington, Gano morphed into one of the league’s trustiest and highest-paid kickers.
“That’s what’s tough, I remember we were in Washington and we had a young kicker who missed a number of kicks, but I didn’t have much experience with kicking then,” Shanahan recalled.
“I remember I kept telling the head coach that he’s cost us two games, when are we going to move on from this guy? And he kept telling me how talented he was, ‘You’ve got to be patient.’ But then he lost us a third game and then the head coach had to make a move, but two years later that guy was the highest paid kicker in the league and going to Pro Bowls. So he was right, we had to be patient. But how long can you do it?”
The 49ers are hopeful their patience will be rewarded with Moody.
“I think that’s just what’s tough with that position. There are no backups and stuff like that, so that’s what the challenge is. But I believe we’ve got the right guy and I think that eventually, I think he has shown that at times, thought he showed that at times his rookie year. I thought he showed that big time being 12 out of 13 to start this year. And I think he’ll show us all that in the future,” Shanahan said.
Moody was selected by the 49ers with the No. 99 overall pick in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft. The Michigan alum connected on 21-of-25 field goal tries during the 2023 regular season and 6-of-8 field goal kicks in the 2023 postseason with the 49ers.