49ers' Jake Moody is already proving his team right and his doubters wrong
The San Francisco 49ers traded for veteran kicker Zane Gonzalez back in March after Robbie Gould's departure and Gonzalez's best year as a pro. But that didn't stop them from spending a top-100 pick on kicker Jake Moody in the 2023 NFL Draft. And, of course, there were plenty of people who didn't like the […]
The San Francisco 49ers traded for veteran kicker Zane Gonzalez back in March after Robbie Gould's departure and Gonzalez's best year as a pro.
But that didn't stop them from spending a top-100 pick on kicker Jake Moody in the 2023 NFL Draft. And, of course, there were plenty of people who didn't like the pick.
But of all the people who didn't like the move, it's safe to assume Gonzalez disliked it the most. It made him expendable and simply based off the pick, he'd have to have a perfect offseason and Moody would have to just outright suck in order to win the job.
Well, Gonzalez's hill just got even harder to climb after listening to what special teams coordinator Brian Schneider said Wednesday.
"[He's] everything we thought he was," Schneider told reporters when asked about Moody. "Just really consistent, really even-keeled and exactly what we hoped he’d be…
"… He’s just really consistent in everything he does from his approach, to his ball flight, to his finish, to the way he is around here all day, so it’s been fun having him.”
Moody had quite the career at Michigan and it was highlighted by Moody becoming the school's first Lou Groza Award winner in 2021. He was also named a consensus All-American that year. 2022 wasn't as successful, but he still managed to earn second-team All-American honors and was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award.
But even with all the accolades, what really matters is how kickers handle adversity. Football is a mental game, as we all know, but it's safe to argue that the kicker position needs mental fortitude, so to speak, the most. If a kicker can't overcome his mistakes or if they develop the "yips", then they're pretty much done unless they undergo a massive transformation.
Moody obviously hasn't proved he has the mental fortitude to overcome mistakes in the NFL, yet. But at the same time, Schneider saw enough during pre-draft workouts to where he has plenty of faith that Moody can overcome his future mistakes.
"When I worked him out, there was no question what I thought about it," said Schneider. "… The workout was perfect for me. It was unbelievable, he had two snappers that were backup long snappers on Michigan’s team that were not very good. And he had his holder, so right off the bat, these balls are coming everywhere and he was doing great. The times were good, everything’s good. As it got going and the snappers were rotating, the balls were just atrocious coming back. And I loved it because I was looking at him, how he responded to everything and you could tell he was getting frustrated because then I’d move the snappers and I had him kick off sticks and his timing was off, so it was a really frustrating workout from his point of view.
"I absolutely loved it because at the very end we backed up to a 55-yarder, bad snap and so he missed it and he thought that was the last kick and again, I’m just looking at him and he’s still stone-faced really cool disposition, so I go, okay, we have a last second field goal. I’m going to count, you have 12 seconds, I’m going to count it down and this is against Ohio State to win it. They’re on the sidelines, they all run out, the worst snap of the day. It bounced twice way inside. I mean the holder barely got it down and Moody just like I’ve seen on tape, so consistent with his approach and finish and trust, smoked it, so I was like, that is a great way to finish it.
"… Right there, all those questions you have of how does the guy respond to adversity? It just naturally happened at the workout and I was the only one there, so I was fired up. If a lot of people would’ve saw that, I think they would’ve saw what I saw and I trusted what I saw. That’s really what for me, out of everything, that was a final step where I was like, this guy’s the guy.”
It doesn't sound like Moody is going to have a bad summer, which pretty much means Gonzalez is just a camp body to keep Moody occupied. I wouldn't be looking over my shoulder, however, if I were the rookie.
It's kind of an unfair deal for Gonzalez – I mean, the guy had a great year in Carolina and was still under contract. Plus, Eddy Piñeiro is nowhere near guaranteed to be the kicker for the 2023 season. Meaning, Gonzalez had a great shot at winning the Panthers' kicking job.
Now, he's pretty much a dead man walking that is going to need a miracle to win the 49ers' kicking job. Sure, nothing is guaranteed in the NFL, but, it's clear that this is out of Gonzalez's control and he's going to be looking for a new team by the time the regular season starts.
Featured image via Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
