The 49ers made waves late in the third round of the draft when they selected Michigan kicker Jake Moody with the 99th overall pick.
While that’s atypically early for a kicker, San Francisco had him atop their board at the position and didn’t think he’d last until they picked again in the fifth round.
Instead of settling for a kicker lower on their board, they made the pick inside the top 100 in hopes of finding a long-term answer at the position in the post-Robbie Gould era.
Here are a few things to know about Moody before he suits up for the 49ers:
No scholarship
Moody made the Wolverines’ football squad without a scholarship. General manager John Lynch relayed a story in his post-Day 2 press conference about how Moody making Michigan’s team as a walk-on helped them make a decision in the draft process.
“A little bit of the story that was shared with us. There was a guy who had arrived there before him who was highly recruited guy, more. heralded than Jake, and Jake came in, was pretty good so [University of Michigan head coach Jim] Harbaugh put them through a competition, as explained to me, only Jim Harbaugh could do. It was pretty intense and the kid was nails and really kind of fought through that to win the job over a guy who was a really big recruit and all that, so they really speak of him glowingly there. [San Francisco 49ers special teams coordinator] Brian Schneider got to be there, spend some time with him and really became convicted not only with the way this guy kicks the ball on his kicks and kickoffs, but the personality which is important for that position – the confidence, the steadiness was all there.”
Record breaker
Moody was a prolific kicker over his final two years at Michigan. He set a single-season record for the Wolverines with 147 points scored last season. The previous record of 138 belonged to Heisman winner Desmond Howard. Moody also finished his career with 355 points scored – also a school record.
Semi-final star
In the College Football Playoff semifinal against TCU, Moody stepped up and crushed a 59-yard field goal to set a career-long in his final collegiate game.
Kickoff specialist
While accuracy on field goal attempts is important, the 49ers also need a player who can handle kickoff duties. That was one of Moody’s primary responsibilities for the Wolverines. He became the full-time placekicker in 2021, but for his entire career he handled kickoff duties and booted more than 56 percent of his kickoffs for touchbacks.
