The 49ers were near the bottom of the league in fourth-down attempts last season, ranking 25th overall with just 17. On the surface it’s a curious trend, considering Kyle Shanahan is one of the best, if not the best, player callers in the NFL.
But Shanahan has had kicker Robbie Gould to fall back on over the years, giving him essentially an automatic three points once the team reaches the 30-yard line. Easier to be risk averse when you have three points in your back pocket.
That won’t necessarily be the case this year with rookie kicker Jake Moody, who has a powerful leg but has no NFL track record to his name.
49ers beat writer Matt Maiocco believes because of this, we might see a more aggressive Kyle Shanahan, at least in the first part of the season.
“I think what Kyle Shanahan will have to kind of figure out is how they want to approach this now,” Maiocco said. “There will be more opportunities for Jake Moody for a bigger leg to kick 55-56 yard field goals, but because it might not be just the absolute given…When the 49ers got it at the 30 yard line, it was basically like ‘Well, we’ve got three points.’ I think when you got to the 30 yard line, Kyle Shanahan had to wrestle this, ‘Okay, we got the three points, let’s not do anything to screw that up.’
“Now I think it at least enables him the opportunity a 4th and 1, 4th and 2 at the 30, at the 25, whatever to go ‘You know what, we have this good play that I like in this situation, let’s go for it.’ I looked this up a month or so ago. 49ers were not at the bottom, but really close to the bottom in fourth down attempts last season. And I don’t know if they’re ever going to be the Los Angeles Chargers with Brandon Staley going for it four times a game, but I do think they will be more aggressive.”
Moody was incredible at Michigan, leading the NCAA in field goals made last season with 29, and posting a career 82.1 FG%, third-best in Big Ten history. He also has a stronger leg than Gould, who Maiocco called the best kicker in 49ers history.
“I don’t know that they look at it now, until Jake Moody proves otherwise, that it’s just an automatic three points once you get to the 30 yard line,” Maiocco concluded.
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