The San Francisco 49ers made a surprising move this offseason, opting not to bring back veteran kicker Robbie Gould and instead drafting rookie kicker Jake Moody. Moody didn’t give the best first impression in his preseason debut, and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke about it on Monday.
Moody comes in with some extremely high expectations, as the San Francisco 49ers selected him in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. This selection made him just the fifth kicker since 2000 to be taken in the first three rounds of the NFL draft.
His preseason debut on Sunday didn’t exactly go to plan, missing both of his field goal attempts against the Las Vegas Raiders.
That isn’t exactly a great look in your first game, especially when you are replacing a player like Robbie Gould who sits inside the top ten in field goal percentage in NFL history.
Regardless, Kyle Shanahan doesn’t appear to be all that concerned about his young kicker, largely brushing off questions about his misses after the game.
“I’m not,” said Shanahan when asked if he was concerned about Moody. “It’s unfortunate because I know the pressure on him and everyone’s looking. And I know he missed those two today. He’s been great in practice. He’s hit them all.”
To be fair to Moody, one of his misses came on a highly difficult 58-yard field goal. But given his reputation coming into the NFL, he will need to start making those difficult kicks if he wants to have a lengthy NFL career.
[NFL.com]
