49ers Kicker Jake Moody is Burying his Preseason Concerns

Rookie kicker Jake Moody is looking exactly like the player the 49ers invested heavily in.

The kicker position looked like a disaster for the 49ers after the preseason.

Rookie Jake Moody was struggling by missing several kicks throughout, including a layup point after attempt. To top it off, he ended up suffering a calf strain that caused him to miss the final preseason game and a couple weeks of practice. The 49ers were starting to look like fools for drafting a kicker so high with a third round pick. I even suggested that the 49ers not play Moody in Week 1 since it's not the best debut game for a kicker who had been struggling.

Fast forward to Week 3, and the 49ers have a kicker without any issues. Moody through two games is 6-for-6 in field goal attempts with one being a 57-yarder he made against the Rams. If you had asked me if Moody would nail a 57-yard field goal before Week 1, I would not have believed you. Now, after two games, he looks exactly like the kicker the 49ers invested heavily in. Moody is burying his preseason concerns with his excellent play so far.

"There was a little bit of hesitation between that or trying to pin them deep," Shanahan said of sending Moody out for the 57-yard field goal attempt. "The way they had been going on offense, they had been scoring so I thought we needed points. But it makes it a hell of a lot easier for them if you missed that midfield. So there was some hesitation on it, but we ended up rolling the dice. He definitely gave us more confidence after that.”

That 57-yard field goal was everything. Not only does it instill more confidence in Shanahan and the 49ers, but most importantly it instills it in Moody. Making that one had to have felt invigorating and put his preseason woes to bed. Again, I viewed the kicker position as a disaster for the 49ers. The thing with kickers is that when they get the yips, they can easily snowball mentally. I was skeptical about Moody's mental fortitude, especially with the injury, going into the regular season. But it's clear that he had himself a bad stretch, which makes it wondrous news for the 49ers.

“It's been real impressive just getting to know the guy, being around him just a short amount of time," said Shanahan of Moody. "He really handled himself extremely well as soon as he got here. And then hitting that rough patch in those preseason games, they kind of came out of nowhere because practice wasn't like that. To watch him have to go through that, then to watch him have to go through the injury that he battled right after that, I thought it was real impressive of him to get himself ready for these two games and he's done a hell of a job in both of them.”

Moody's NFL career has just started and he already has faced some adversity. That is probably what fueled him into making that 57-yard field goal. Being in that moment knowing the 49ers needed points badly had to have been a ton of pressure on his shoulders. Not to mention that if he misses, then the 49ers have to defend a short field. Moody executed that kick with ease and it never looked in doubt at all.

I think it's safe to say that the 49ers have themselves a trustworthy kicker now.