For the first time in training camp, Jake Moody missed a kick. Yet, that wasn’t the takeaway from his performance on Tuesday, or his full camp display.
Moody has shown a booming leg, and on the final kick of practice, knocked in a 60-yarder that would have been good at least from another five yards out, with a slight breeze against him.
The kid has a leg. He hit from 33, 38, 48, 53 and 60 on Tuesday, missing one kick from 43 yards out. Aside from that miss, he’s basically been automatic, and has made the special teams portion of camp entertaining. His 53-yard kick on Tuesday went over the more than 10-foot fence of the practice facility which is at least five yards behind the end zone.
Special teams coordinator Brian Schneider discussed Moody’s performance, as well as Zane Gonzalez. With blocks of three practices, the two have alternated days and split a third day.
“He is doing really well,” Schneider said of Moody. “We’re trying to give him a little bit of everything and try and get all situations. That last one I think was 60 and we backed him up for the last one. So, he’s right on schedule, doing everything he needs to do.”
Schneider put Moody through the ringer in his workout at Michigan, putting him under tough circumstance with terrible, fill-in long snappers, as detailed here. He indicated he wants to keep testing Moody as camp goes on, hopefully with inclement weather and disadvantageous situations.
The situation with Moody and Gonzalez seems to be a clear-cut one. Gonzalez was acquired for a conditional swap of seventh-round picks in 2025. He’s competition and capable if Moody couldn’t cut it.
But Schneider raved about Gonzalez, too, discounting criticism of the likely-to-be-cut situation he’s in.
“I don’t think he’s in a weird situation,” Schneider said. “I think he’s in an awesome situation and he’s been wonderful here. He’s really talented and him and Jake have worked great together. And really, to me, that’s just the competition. I view all 90 players that way.
“We’re getting stronger, we’re competing. Both of those guys are going to be kicking in the NFL. They’re approaching it that way, they’re playing that way, they’re helping each other. And it’s just been really cool to have that competition in camp.”
What is evident so far is that the 49ers have an extraordinarily talented kicker. Their range on field goals will expand substantially from Robbie Gould’s hard-and-fast 53-yard range limit. Moody can clearly kick from 60, and discernibly a bit beyond it, too. Time will tell the crucial part: if his talent translates into game situations.