The 49ers made the unusual decision to draft a kicker, Jake Moody, in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft. San Francisco General Manager John Lynch says that if the 49ers hadn’t drafted Moody so high, some other team would have taken him soon.
Lynch said on KNBR that other kicker-needy teams were trying to trade up to get in front of the 49ers to take Moody, according to Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com.
Lynch can’t know for sure what any other team would have done, but there did seem to be significant interest in kickers this year. The Patriots drafted kicker Chad Ryland in the fourth round, just 13 spots after the 49ers drafted Moody, and most observers consider Moody a better prospect than Ryland.
But while Lynch got the kicker he wanted, kickers are not a safe bet. Kicking is inconsistent, and no one knows with any degree of certainty which college kickers will succeed in the NFL.
That’s why no kicker had been drafted within the first three rounds since Roberto Aguayo went to the Buccaneers in the second round in 2016. Lynch has to hope Moody turns out a lot better than Aguayo did.
