49ers roster 2024: Jake Moody must avoid sophomore blues

After an up-and-down rookie season, Jake Moody has to justify the 49ers using a Round 3 draft pick on him by becoming more consistent.

Former Michigan kicker Jake Moody didn't exactly negate the widespread opinion that teams should never draft specialists unless it's way late in Round 7, or so, of the NFL Draft.

Yet the San Francisco 49ers bucked that notion by selecting him in Round 3 of the 2023 draft at No. 99 overall.

Moody had a big leg and came with a great collegiate reputation. Given the Niners had moved on from longtie kicker Robbie Gould that same offseason and had few other pressing roster needs, there was some merit to the selection.

But Moody's rookie year was anything but spectacular.

He made 21 of his 25 regular-season field-goal attempts for a conversion percentage of 84 percent, and some blamed him for San Francisco's Week 6 road loss versus the Cleveland Browns when he failed to connect on a would-be game-winning field goal with time expiring.

Then, despite missing just one extra-point try during the regular season out of 61 attempts, Moody missed a crucial extra point during Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Considering that game went to overtime, leading to KC's win over the 49ers, one can only wonder what the outcome would have been if Moody had connected.

Still, there's room for optimism.

Jake Moody can improve in 2024 despite lackluster rookie-year efforts

Moody's reputation might not be the best after what happened last year. But comparisons show that he might not have been as bad as one might think.

Going back to Gould, whose own rookie-year field-goal percentage was 77.8 in 2005 before jumping to 88.9 a year later, it's reasonable to assume Moody has gotten those first-year "yips" out of the way.

Additionally, Gould's own 86.5 career field-goal percentage isn't that far off from Moody's 84-percent tally from a year ago.

What'll matter most, though, are those clutch situations.

A Super Bowl-contending Niners team is still likely to experience games in which a win or a loss will come down to a last-second field goal, and Moody was drafted to specifically deliver in those crucial moments.

Seemingly inconsequential field-goal tries in the middle of a game are often forgotten, but those happening in the waning seconds stand out.

If Moody improves there, his draft status will be fully justified. If he doesn't, the Round 3 selection will likely be tabbed as yet another wasted pick by San Francisco.

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