Scoring touchdowns and keeping your kicker to XPs is one way to do it.
San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody might have one of the more polarizing draft criticisms. Some understood it, especially with Robbie Gould retiring this week. Others thought it was far too early to take a kicker, even when Michigan alumni were saying 49ers fans would love him.
And despite a shaky preseason, he came out booting. Well, until the Cleveland Browns game. Moody had a rough stretch with the Browns and that carried over to the Minnesota Vikings where he missed another kick that may have helped things a bit.
Since the Vikings, he’s been solid. Well, as long as you keep this nugget in mind: most of his kicks have been extra points. The 49ers are finding the redzone on the regular now. That said, he’s made 100 percent of his XPs for the season. He’s 85 percent for field goals. That’s not dreadful it’s not exactly rookie of the year numbers either. It’s better than Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker’s 2023 season to date. If you remember, Moody’s rookie season was compared to Tucker’s (2012) when this started. If you’re comparing Tucker’s rookie season to now, he’s got the edge with 90 percent of his field goals (30-33) made.
Moody’s made any field goal from 1-39 yards. It’s when you get to the 40-yard range when he struggles. He went 2-2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 at that range, but after that he missed the other two kicks he’s attempted through Week 13.
If you’re curious, Gould went 7-11 of field goals in that range for 2022 and 7-9 in 2021.
50+ yards is a bit dicey also, he’s gone 2-3 with one of those misses at the Browns debacle. One of those hits was the Minnesota Vikings that started the Moody streak. He hasn’t missed a kick since October.
Most of the kicker rankings, have Moody ranked around 19-22. I’m sure the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota games hurt that number. Also his lack of field goals in general for the second half of the season might not help (it’s not much of a deficit when you think about it, he’s attempted 20 on the year thus far, Tucker’s attempted 26)
On the flipside, he is a rookie and that should be something to remember as he makes a few flubs. The big question will be if he finds himself in a similar situation to the Browns game, but in the postseason. What will happen then?
What are your thoughts on Moody so far?
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