If the bar wasn’t already high, one of the closest people to Jake Moody has lofty hopes for the 49ers kicker in his second NFL season.
During San Francisco’s State of the Franchise event, 49ers special teams coordinator Brian Schneider gave an inside look into what has gone into the 24-year-old’s development ahead of a highly anticipated sophomore season, including his relationship with punter Mitch Wishnowsky.
“It’s been really cool for Jake to get away after the season and really kind of process everything,” Schneider said. “And what he does is go through the tape and then he goes through kind of what the week looked like, what the day looked like, what was going on in his life.
“He tries to put it all together. And then when all the players come back, we sit down with Mitch [Wishnowsky] and all the coaches. By the way, Mitch has been an excellent mentor to Jake. It’s been really cool to witness that. Of all the things that these young guys go through as they start their career, so that’s been really cool.”
Schneider described how his staff and players debrief, which includes going “through everything,” such as what happened during the week, during the game and what happens off the field for each player.
In those sessions, Schneider says that Moody’s reflections on his rookie season stood out and why that was the case.
“So, as we got there, the number one thing showed up were the lessons that Jake learned,” Schneider added. “And there were a lot. They were situational. They were [in-game]. They were through the week. I’ll just give you an example of the list we went through.
“Preseason, it’s hard for all rookies. They finished their last year of playing, and they go right to working out. They go right to the combine. They go right to individual workouts.
“So Jake was kicking that whole time, and they go right to their team. And so, you really have to monitor all rookies but especially punters and kickers because you don’t want to wear out their legs. You’re also concerned they’re not getting enough work. It’s a fine line.”
Despite a couple of bumps in the road, the No. 99 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft had a laudable rookie season, making 21 of 25 field-goal attempts and missing one extra point in the regular season.
Additionally, Moody made six of eight field-goal attempts and missed just one extra point in the 49ers’ playoff run, convincing Schneider that the young kicker is fit for the job.
“Jake is built for this,” Schneider said. “When we went through everything, the number one thing he said [was], ‘I was the most excited, I felt the most alive and I love playing in the Super Bowl.’
“And for a rookie to say that … I always thought I saw it in him, in a weird way. But for him to verbalize it, to watch the tape.”
Schneider carried on and doubled down by mentioning the kicker’s performance in Super Bowl LVIII, which saw Moody momentarily set a field-goal record before giving San Francisco a three-point lead with just under two minutes remaining.
“He set the record on the first kick, which was broken, “Schneider added. “But, to me, we had an unfortunate miss that affected the game, and then he comes back and hits a 53 yarder with 1:57 left. It just speaks to who the kid is. Around him everyday, I know exactly who he is because he is so consistent, and I trust it.
“As his career develops – I think he has such an awesome base and he’s so talented – you guys are going to see exactly who he is when he gets the opportunities. He’s going to be fun for you guys to watch.”
It sounds like the best of Moody is yet to come.
