A kicker hadn’t been drafted on Day 2 of the NFL Draft since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used a second-round pick on Florida State’s Roberto Aguayo back in 2016. We all know how that turned out. The most accurate kicker in the Atlantic Coastal Conference’s (ACC) history is now out of the league.
For one reason or another, the 49ers elected to take Michigan’s Jake Moody in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Now, San Francisco’s general manager, John Lynch, has done his best to justify taking a kicker with a premium draft selection,
He recently claimed on KNBR’s Murph & Mac show, that the 49ers, who had three third-round picks, were battling other teams to select the former Lou Groza Award winner.
“I can tell you, since then, that a lot of teams have called and said, you know, shortly thereafter they were going there,” Lynch said Thursday, via NFL Media. “And in fact, teams tried to trade up to get in front of us. So, something we feel really good about. Time will tell, as it will with all these guys. But we think he has the makings of a really cornerstone, foundational-type player for years to come for us, and we’re proud to have him a part of us.”
Based on Lynch’s comments, the 49ers didn’t want to have to take a kicker that high, but rather, they needed to as they prepare for life beyond Robbie Gould. The team has already signed veteran placekicker Zane Gonzalez this offseason, but barring anything unforeseen, it’s hard to imagine that the 99th overall pick isn’t the team’s starting kicker heading into the 2023 season.
“I think you know that if you’re taking a kicker that high, believe me, we weren’t doing cartwheels over it,” Lynch said. “I think we’ll be doing cartwheels if he’s the guy we think he is because kickers are really important. They score a lot of points. They finish a lot of drives.
“I think this guy will give us an opportunity to extend where we’ve been able to kick from. I think we’ll be able to kick the 55-plus yarders now. I think on the kickoffs, this is a guy who can put ’em into the end zone when we need, kick ’em out of the end zone. We can hang it up there. I think he affords us the opportunity to do a lot of things.”
It remains to be seen whether the selection of Moody will eventually pay off for the 49ers, but at the very least, it’s certainly a questionable allocation of resources.