NFL draft 2023: Michigan kicker Jake Moody drafted by San Francisco 49ers in Round 3
It's only fitting, the most decorated kicker in the history of Michigan football set one last record on his way out.
Jake Moody was drafted No. 99 overall in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft Friday by the San Francisco 49ers, the highest any U-M kicker has ever been selected.
Only two had even been drafted prior to Moody — Hayden Epstein by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2002 (seventh round, pick No. 247) and Ali Haji-Sheikh by the New York Giants in 1983 (ninth round, pick No. 237).
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Then again, Michigan had never produced a kicker like Moody before. A five-star prospect from nearby Northville High School, Moody became a two-time All-American (consensus 2021), U-M's first Lou Groza Award Winner (2021) and set just about every kicking record across five seasons in Ann Arbor.
It started as a freshman, when he went 10-for-11 on field goals; his lone miss a 52-yarder just before halftime of the Peach Bowl, a 41-15 Florida win. He again split time as a sophomore with Quinn Nordin and went 6-for-9, before a 1-for-4 performance in a 2020 season the entire program would like to forget.
He went 0-for-3 against Minnesota, though he made all seven of his extra points in a 49-24 win and attempted just one more field goal the rest of the season. That led to his breakout campaign in 2021, when Moody went 23-for-25 and was named the best kicker in the nation.
Moody went 38-for-39 (97.4%) on kicks inside of 40 yards and 48-for-52 (92.3%) inside of 50 yards his final two seasons. He didn't miss a single PAT (148-for-148) in his collegiate career.
He finished with U-M's career records for most points (355), field goals (69), field goals from at least 40 yards (17) and is tied for the most from at least 50 yards (4). He also set single-season program records in 2022 for points (147), PATs (60), field goals (29) and field goals from at least 40 yards (10).
His final kick in Michigan Stadium was a 35-yard game-winner with 12 seconds left against Illinois to preserve an unbeaten regular season; Moody went 4-for-4 in that game including three unanswered field goals in the fourth quarter.
He also blasted a program-record 59-yard field goal in the final game of his collegiate career, a 51-45 Fiesta Bowl loss to TCU.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's Jake Moody goes to 49ers in NFL draft Round 3
