Jake Moody has had an off year, to say the least. He suffered a high-ankle sprain, which caused him some discomfort, but he has not lost the confidence of his coach Kyle Shanahan.
Shanahan Not Ready To Give Up on Moody Despite Recent Kicking Woes
Shanahan is not disappointed in his kicker, despite the fact he has missed some much-needed kicks lately. He started out the season on fire, but the flame fizzled down the stretch. He missed a 41-yard, third-quarter kick on national television in Week 16 at the Miami Dolphins and the cameras showed Shanahan much dismayed.
Shanahan said after the game Moody should have made the kick, and it appeared as though his days were numbered in the Bay. However, Shanahan reiterated on Thursday he was sticking with Moody.
“I still feel the same about him, that I believe he’ll be our guy. I mean everyone’s gotta perform and do things like that. I think he’s had a tough year. Before his high ankle sprain, he missed one. … I think he was 12 of 13 before that, so I thought he was doing really well,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers’ head coach shorted his kick, who was 13-for-14 with his leg before missing a month due to injury, ultimately returning and consequently seeing a downtick in performance.
“And then [he] had a high ankle sprain to his kicking foot. Since he’s come back, he hasn’t been as consistent, obviously, but I think a lot of that has to do with that [ankle sprain].”
Kyle Shanahan on Jake Moody’s future with the 49ers:
“I still feel the same about him, that I believe he’ll be our guy. I mean everyone’s gotta perform and do things like that. I think he’s had a tough year. Before his high ankle sprain, he missed one… I think he was 12 of 13… pic.twitter.com/W2WxStmnYj
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) December 26, 2024
Shanahan said he is hoping Moody can heal his ankle in the offseason and come back even stronger in 2025.
“Hopefully he can get to this offseason, heal up, and find his stroke again and play at a high level that I think he will because he’s real talented,” Shanahan said. “I think he’s made of the right stuff from a mental standpoint and everything and I think he has all the tools he can be a great kicker in this league. He’s still working to find that though.”
Moody is 6-of-10 from 40-49 yards this year and is 3-of-6 from 50 yards or more. The misses from 50 yards are the most tolerable, but not the misses under that range. Moody should be routinely making those kicks after going 19-of-22 from inside of 50 yards as a rookie.
Shanahan selected Moody, and it cost the 49ers a third-round pick. That works in Moody’s favor. No coach who drafted a kicker in the third round wants to admit they made a mistake.
The problem boils down to consistency, which is something Moody has not been, and until he finds the consistency, he will always be looking over his shoulder.