The San Francisco 49ers tried to make kicking an afterthought for the foreseeable future when they used the No. 99 overall pick in the 2023 draft to select kicker Jake Moody out of the University of Michigan. After two seasons it’s clear San Francisco can’t push the position off its list of offseason needs.
Moody got off to a rocky start his rookie year, but by season’s end looked like he found his footing in the NFL. His second season was a disaster where he missed 10 of his 34 attempts. Five of his misses come from 40-49 yards out, and another five were from 50-plus. His 70.6 percent FG percentage was the lowest for an NFL kicker with at least 34 attempts since the 2012 season when another 49ers kicker, David Akers, made just 69.0 percent of his 42 tries. Moody is one of only four players since the 2000 with a FG percentage of 70.6 or worse on 34-plus kicks.
How the 49ers proceed at kicker will be an interesting offseason subplot to some of the more noteworthy decisions they have to make on offense and defense.
They could just run it back with Moody, but his struggles in two seasons with San Francisco have been so high-profile that he may never be fully comfortable with the 49ers.
Moody did deal with an injury this year that may have hampered him some when he returned. He also saw his holder change when punter Mitch Wishnowsky went down with a back injury.
Still, he missed his first preseason kick and missed his first game-winning try. He had an extra point blocked in the Super Bowl, and then in his second season put up one of the worst seasons for a kicker in more than a decade. Every kick in a 49ers uniform is going to come with added pressure after his rocky first two seasons.
There’s a chance they outright move on from Moody as well. They can cut him and bring in another draft pick or a veteran and try again to find some consistency at the position.
A wiser move in any event would include some level of competition whether it includes, Moody, a veteran, a (late-round) draft pick or otherwise. San Francisco can’t go into another year where head coach Kyle Shanahan can’t confidently roll his kicker out for field goals. Using a high draft pick on the position didn’t work, and just trying to snag a veteran like Joey Slye or Nick Folk could easily backfire. Holding a real competition in camp between a couple of kickers is the way the 49ers should operate this offseason.
They may not be keen on using multiple 90-man roster spots on kickers, but if it ultimately leads to a solution where they don’t have to worry about their kicker it would be well worth it.