The 49ers have a kicker.
Hooo boy, do they have a kicker. And they invested quite a bit to get one. With the 99th overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, San Francisco selected the University of Michigan’s Jake Moody.
Moody, by all accounts, was the best kicker in the draft. He was generally seen as a two-round-better prospect than the next-closest kicking prospect, Maryland’s Chad Ryland.
The selection makes Moody the highest-drafted kicker since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took Roberto Aguayo in the second round in 2016, and the second-highest kicking selection since the Jets took Mike Nugent in the second round of the 2005 draft.
Robbie Gould made very clear this offseason that he would be returning to the 49ers, and San Francisco did not seem inclined to pay for him.
Gould cost $5.393 million on the cap last season.
Instead, they traded for Zane Gonzalez before he was reportedly about to be released. Gonzalez, though, is very cuttable. As NBC Sports Matt Maiocco said on KNBR Friday, he’s a “placeholder.”
Gonzalez has a non-guaranteed $1.465 million base salary and a $350,000 per game (pro-rated per game) roster bonus if he’s on the team. Moody will cost just $980,991 next season.
As for Moody’s bona fides, well, he’s got experience kicking in big games.
Moody hit a 59-yard field goal in the national championship game, the longest ever in a CFP championship. He never missed a single extra point in his college career. Non one in 148 attempts over five years.
Now, he did miss four of his seven 50-plus-yard attempts and one from the 40-to-49-yard range last season. But he’s been extremely reliable over his career, especially in big moments. He hit a championship-record 59-yard field goal against TCU.
He also had a 64 percent touchback rate at Michigan, the same as Gonzalez in Gonzalez’s last season. Given that Gould had a 44.35 percent touchback percent — fifth-worst in the league — and Mitch Wishnowsky couldn’t handle kickoffs, that’s huge.
Oh, and Moody said he’s actually close with Gould. In a Zoom with reporters, he revealed that he’s built a close bond with Gould, who he shares an agent with.
“I’ve built up a really good relationship with Robbie Gould these past few months,” Moody said. “He actually just texted me. I’m not sure if he felt the need to pass the torch or what… but he’s been helping me out with a ton of stuff… he’s been there the whole way.”
It’s an interesting note for a rookie kicker who will face a ton of pressure from the get-go at a position that’s all about dealing with nerves.