SANTA CLARA — Given his choice of available kickers, it appears as if 49ers first-year special teams coordinator Brant Boyer has a favorite in mind.
Jake Moody, who experienced an up-and-down first two seasons with the 49ers, has reinforced the opinion Boyer had of him a couple of years ago when Moody was coming out in the 2023 NFL Draft.
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WATCH HERE“There isn’t a special teams coach in this league that didn’t have him rated No. 1 coming out, that I know of,” Boyer said of Moody on Thursday. “He’s as talented of a kid as it gets.”
Moody made just 24 of 34 field-goal attempts last season. His 70.6-percent success rate was 33rd among all NFL kickers with 10 or more made field goals.
Moody was 13 of 14 to open last season. After returning from a high-ankle sprain, he connected on just 11 of 20 attempts.
“The injury issue, where he was fighting injuries going back and forth, I think that had a lot to do with it,” Boyer said.
Moody entered the NFL under a microscope. The 49ers did not re-sign veteran kicker Robbie Gould, and selected Moody at the end of the third round at No. 99 overall.
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He made 21 of 25 field goals as a rookie. He made two kicks beyond 50 yards in the Super Bowl, but also had an extra point blocked in the 49ers’ 25-22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime.
Boyer, who spent the previous nine seasons as special-teams coordinator of the New York Jets, believes the addition of long-snapper Jon Weeks will prove beneficial to Moody.
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SIGN UP Weeks, 39, a 15-year NFL veteran, replaces Taybor Pepper, the 49ers’ long-snapper of the past five seasons.
“Us bringing in Weeks is going to help,” Boyer said. “The kid (Moody) gets his mind right, which I think he’s doing, he’s doing a hell of a job for us so far, I think he’ll do a heck of a job for us, I really do.”
When asked if he expects Moody to be the 49ers’ kicker when the regular season begins, Boyer answered, “Well, yeah. It all comes down to what happens in the preseason like every other position, for sure.”
The only competition Moody is facing up to this point comes from Kenneth Almendares, who was chosen as the winner of the Lou Groza Award as the best kicker in college football. Almendares is taking part in the 49ers' rookie camp this week on a tryout basis.
Almendares made 28 of 31 field-goal attempts in his final season of college football. Only two kickers were drafted, and Almendares was not one of them.
