SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- In the days after kicker Jake Moody made five of his six field goal attempts including a game-winning 59-yarder in the San Francisco 49ers' second preseason game, optimism abounded at team headquarters.
"It could change his career," special teams coordinator Brant Boyer said. "I think he showed the moxie he has and the confidence he's starting to gain. I think it was critical for him."
As so often happens, though, the NFL wasted little time reminding Moody and the Niners that the distance between a pat on the back and a kick in the butt is far shorter than any field goal Moody has missed in his career.
Seven days after Moody kicked tying and winning kicks from a combined 103 yards away in the same game in which he missed badly from 53 yards out and barely snuck a 26-yard try inside the left upright, he missed an extra point wide left and hit a kickoff that went out of bounds in the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers.
That capped an up-and-down week in which Moody also struggled in warmups against the Chargers and had multiple misses in practice, once again leaving outside observers wondering if the time has come for the 49ers to move on to another option. It's something coach Kyle Shanahan indicated isn't going to happen, at least not right away.
"I thought he had one of the best games I've ever seen a guy have [against the Raiders]," Shanahan said. "We'll see how it goes in the year. I know he is a talented kicker. I know he has done some really good things for us. He had a rough last seven games last year, but I think he's had a really good offseason and a really good preseason also."
Therein lies the issue for Moody, who spent his offseason recalibrating his kicking approach in an effort to become more consistent after a first two seasons in which he posted a combined 76.3% field goal percentage with a few highs and plenty of lows.
In 2024, Moody was 24-of-34 on field goal tries, converting on 11 of his final 20 attempts after returning from a high right ankle sprain in Week 10. That 70.6% overall conversion rate ranked 35th in the NFL and contributed to the Niners making mass changes on special teams. They fired coordinator Brian Schneider and hired Boyer and released long snapper Taybor Pepper and punter Mitch Wishnowsky in favor of Jon Weeks and Thomas Morstead.
That Moody was the last man standing spoke to not only the investment the team made in him (he was the 99th pick in the 2023 NFL draft) but in their belief that a healthy offseason and a changed approach could help him finally realize his potential.
To that end, Moody made the kicking equivalent of a golfer's swing change this offseason.
Working with his longtime kicking coach Brandon Kornblue in Naples, Florida, for most of March, Moody ditched his three-step kicking approach for two-step approach that has been favored by other notable kickers such as Adam Vinatieri, Mason Crosby and Matt Prater. Moody studied all of them as he switched to two-stepping.
According to Moody, who had started last season missing once in his first 14 field goal attempts before the injury, a closer inspection of his approach revealed that the third step -- commonly referred to as a jab step -- created inconsistencies which led to more misses, especially on longer kicks.
It was all new to Moody, who had only ever used the three-step approach. Before making the change, Moody surveyed other kickers around the league and various coaches to understand the potential value in the change.
What Moody discovered is that while the two-step approach might sacrifice a little distance, it gets him to the ball quicker and eliminates some of the margin for error when it comes to striking the ball properly.
"It seems like a lot of guys transition to that throughout their careers," Moody said. "At least some of the older guys have had success with it, so hopefully I'll follow in their footsteps and it's a good change."
One player Moody wouldn't mind following in the (two) footsteps of is longtime New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski. In fact, Moody and Gostkowski already have plenty in common. Like Moody behind Robbie Gould, Gostkowski followed a franchise great in Vinatieri and was a relatively high pick (No. 118 in the 2006 NFL draft).
Also, like Moody, Gostkowski had some up-and-down seasons before a former special teams coach suggested that he switch from a three-step to a two-step approach. Gostkowski doesn't remember exactly which year he made the change but suggested it might have been going into Year 3 after making a combined 82% of his field goals in his first two seasons.
At the prodding of his special teams coach, Gostkowski identified a similar issue with the jab step as Moody, noting that it creates more variability in the kicking stroke.
"It's almost like a golf swing where not everybody can swing like John Daly and wrap the club around their head and hit it straight," Gostkowski said. "For field goals especially, the longer you get with your steps, the longer your backswing is, the more error that you could incur from swing to contact ... There's no one way to do it, but for the most part the people that changed from three to two, it's because that first step is inconsistent."
While Gostkowski had no issue trying the change, he does remember being told it might mean giving up some distance in the name of accuracy. He embraced the new approach further when he realized that he could generate just as much power because he would regularly strike the ball in the right spot. like a golfer hitting the center of the clubface even if their swing speed isn't as impressive as other players.
Gostkowski found additional benefits with the two-step approach in that it could also reduce the impact of variables like the changing field surface qualities from stadium to stadium.
The result for Gostkowski was a long and successful career in which he earned three All Pro nods (two first team, one second team), four Pro Bowls, a spot on the 2010s NFL All Decade team, three Super Bowl rings and the NFL record for consecutive extra points made (523).
The 49ers would love if their commitment to Moody ended with similar results, though any sort of Moody bounce back in 2025 will have to go beyond changing how many steps he takes before kicking the ball.
Boyer has alluded to Moody losing confidence as last season wore on, an assertion Moody doesn't completely swat away, noting that his biggest obstacle is moving on quickly if and when things don't go how he envisions.
Moody has spent time seeing a sports performance coach, who has encouraged him to focus on the process over results.
"I want to prove to myself that I deserve to be here and that I belong and it doesn't have anything to do with last year or other people or anything," Moody said. "[I] just kind of changed my mindset to just focusing on the now and doing whatever I can do in the moment to help myself best make kicks."
As the Niners prepare to open the regular season on Sept. 7 against the Seattle Seahawks, Moody figures to get the chance to do just that. The Niners brought in veteran Greg Joseph to compete with Moody in the offseason, but that didn't last long into training camp before injuries elsewhere left the Niners feeling like keeping more than one kicker on the roster was more luxury than need and the team released Joseph.
Still, it's reasonable to think that Moody's grace period, for as long as it's proved to be through his two-plus seasons in the league, won't extend nearly as far in 2025, especially if he struggles in key moments.
Asked what advice he'd have for Moody to get his career back on track, Gostkowski started by suggesting that the third-year kicker ignore all outside noise as best he can, to maintain a thick skin and to stay ready when the big moments arise.
"If you go in thinking you know it all and that you're invincible, you'll get knocked on your ass pretty quick in the NFL," Gostkowski said. "The most frustrating part of being a kicker is you don't get to create your own opportunities. You just have to pounce on 'em when you get 'em."