Robbie Gould has kicked in the NFL since 2005. At age 40, he remains one of the more reliable kickers in the game. Still, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan knew that accuracy depended on not testing Gould's limits when it comes to distance.
This offseason, it came time for the 49ers to go younger and cheaper at kicker and to find a stronger leg. They sought to find their kicker of the future, allowing Gould to hit free agency and drafting Jake Moody, a move that drew much criticism because the Niners used a third-round pick on the Michigan product.
However, the 49ers coaches loved what they saw in Moody and felt the younger kicker could provide the team with more in-game options.
Might Shanahan think about kicking if the offense stalls at the opponent's 45-yard line? With Gould, he might have fought to get to the 35.
"That's an option," Shanahan told Greg Papa as part of an interview this week for NBC Sports Bay Area. "And that's something that not having that option in the past made it pretty simple. Having that option makes it a little harder. Just because you can kick it that far doesn't mean it's always the best decision. So you have options to punt, options to go for it, and options to kick it.
"Or, back in the day, it was pretty easy. I had to get it close enough to where [we might go] for it because punting was just not totally worth it because of the odds of only gaining about 20 yards, especially if it was a touchback.
"So now, there's a lot more thought to it, something that I'll have to feel it as we go. You get that confidence through experience. And I'm talking about myself. And when I put him in those situations, and the more he makes, when I think three is automatic—when three is automatic, it's hard to turn down. When you know that going in, you usually go for that.
"I trust our defense, I trust we'll score points later, but it's hard to get that feeling of automatic. I didn't have that in my career, really, until I came here."
Things didn't start smoothly for Moody. The rookie was erratic during his preseason action.
Moody missed both of his field-goal attempts in the 49ers' preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders but hit on his only extra-point try. In the next game against the Denver Broncos, he connected on all three field-goal attempts but missed an extra point.
Then Moody suffered a right quad injury, and his Week 1 status became unclear. The rookie has practiced all week and will play in the opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"He's had a great week," Shanahan said. "I expect him to be really good here on Sunday. He's been great.
We know we got the right guy. We know we got an extremely talented dude. We really like his mentality and his mindset, and we're excited to go to battle with him.
"He's going to be our dude this year, and I think he's going to be our dude for a long time."