49ers kicker Jake Moody has been mostly money so far

After a few preseason bumps in the road, 49ers rookie kicker Jake Moody is off to a near-perfect start to the year.

The Michigan product has not missed a field goal or extra point attempt through two weeks, going 6-for-6 in both categories. His consistency has even gotten coach Kyle Shanahan to do something he’d never done in his head coaching career before: call a 57-yard field goal attempt.

The decision came on a 4th-and-7 from the Rams’ 39-yard line with one minute, 21 seconds left in the third quarter. Moody’s kick had more than enough distance and ultimately sneaked in next to the right goalpost. The home-away-from-home crowd erupted in celebration.

“That was very cool,” Shanahan told reporters after the 30-23 win.

It’s impressive just how cool Moody has been since the regular season began. The 23-year-old has been under a lot of pressure since the Niners took him with the 99th pick in the third round of the draft this spring. San Francisco hadn’t drafted a kicker since 2002, and no team had drafted a kicker in the first three rounds since 2016.

The surprise pick came under a bit of fire after Moody missed both of his field goal attempts in his first preseason appearance against the Raiders. Even when he rebounded the following preseason game, going 3-for-3 on field goals, he missed his lone extra point attempt. As if the misses weren’t bad enough, Moody injured his quad ahead of the Niners’ final preseason game, leaving his availability for Week 1 in question. The team even worked out other kickers in anticipation of this possibility and because backup Zane Gonzalez picked up a calf injury that landed him on injured reserve.

Those struggles look to be well behind Money Moody for the most part. There have still been some rookie mistakes that have only been speed bumps on the Niners’ perfect 2-0 start to the season.

In Week 1, he was called for a delay of game penalty on an extra point attempt. He made it, and his explanation after the fact made it clear that it was just a case of inexperience.

“That’s something obviously first time playing,” Moody said. “It seemed like everyone was standing up. I thought maybe they were reviewing something for some reason, and I was just kind of waiting there. It’s something that we talked about. They are waiting for me to start going. I was waiting for them, while they were waiting for me. It happens.”

Sunday was a bit tougher to explain away. With a preseason quad injury fully healed, Moody took over kickoffs for his first time in the NFL. On his second of the day, Moody booted the ball out of bounds, which meant the Rams started their subsequent drive on their 40-yard line. 

It’s a bad enough mistake as it is, especially since Los Angeles scored on that drive, but it’s particularly egregious this year with the new kickoff rules. In an attempt to disincentivize kick returns to reduce head injuries, players are allowed to call for a fair catch outside the end zone, and their team will start on the 25-yard line. Basically, all kickers have to do now is make sure the ball stays in bounds, and Moody wasn’t able to do that on his second try.

On the most consequential plays, though, Moody has been money. If profits continue to be this good, then most teams would take a shanked kickoff and goofy penalty as the price of doing business.