Kyle Shanahan is doing disservice to 49ers by keeping Jake Moody

I'm not usually one to toot my own horn, but perhaps the best Twitter post I made to sum up my feelings on the San Francisco 49ers' special teams on Sunday night was also one of the shortest:

That felt like a fair, albeit somewhat censored reaction after kicker Jake Moody's second missed field goal of the day, a blocked attempt late in the third quarter. That followed the original miss at the end of the first half that left the Niners with a 10-7 deficit. Had Moody made that original kick, it's likely San Francisco would've gone into the locker room at halftime no worse than tied, and possibly may have gone in ahead, given the swing in field position.

Moody has been a consistent thorn in the 49ers' side, with his putrid ending to the 2024 season being a particular black mark. His conversion rate is 75.4 percent on field goals, while he's also contrived to miss two extra points in his career.

Statistics alone aren't the main story, though.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan put his weight behind Moody since drafting him in Round 3 of the NFL Draft in 2023, and even after Sunday's latest disaster, he's still doing it. Various reports quoted him as saying there would be "no question" Moody would kick next week, against the New Orleans Saints.

That does a huge disservice to the 49ers players... and their fans.

Kyle Shanahan must stop investing in sunk Jake Moody costs

The fact is defending Moody when he's in his rookie season or figuring out the NFL is somewhat admirable. Throwing players you drafted (and wanted on the team) under the bus would be a terrible look. Moody's struggles over his rookie season could've been easily explained by rookie jitters, too, and he didn't have a particularly bad rookie season.

However, in year three and after multiple instances of Moody failing to show up in clutch situations, and in some cases, outright costing the team games, doubling down on him is ridiculous.

It's not even as though Shanahan is expressing no frustration with Moody during games, as a widely circulated clip made the rounds online shortly after Moody's original chip-shot miss:

That followed a colourful reaction in the preseason, where Moody even managed to botch a kickoff, sending the ball flying out of bounds.

If a player makes you angry this often, why on earth is he still on the team?

The 49ers' defense of Jake Moody has always been somewhat bizarre, blaming things from the long-snapper and holder (both of whom have now been replaced) to him carrying an injury for his inconsistent form.

However, we're now in Week 1 of the 2025 season. Moody's healthy, a new special teams unit is in place, a new coordinator is in place, and he's even come through a somewhat of a sham of a kicking competition to retain his job.

And he's still costing the team points and will likely cost them games again in future.

I've nothing against Moody, personally. I'm sure he's working hard, I'm sure he tries his best, practices well, and is a good teammate. However, like highly drafted kickers such as Roberto Aguayo before him, the thing Moody doesn't have is it, aka the indefinable quality that is being able to make kicks when it truly matters. Robbie Gould did. Hell, Phil Dawson did. Moody, despite his obvious leg talent and college record, just doesn't.

The longer Shanahan keeps Moody on the roster, the more the head coach opens up the likelihood of the kicker costing the San Francisco games. A combination of Brock Purdy, Jake Tonges, and Nick Bosa prevented that from happening on Sunday, but they can't be assured of doing so every week.

Moody, if he remains on the team, will cost the 49ers vital games this season. Pretending otherwise, as Shanahan is doing, is a disservice to fans. We can all see it. Sometimes NFL coaches aren't as smart as they think they are.

Accept the obvious, and move on.

It won't just hurt us if Moody costs the Niners games this year. It'll hurt Shanahan, too.