For the most part, the San Francisco 49ers will be running it back after going 13-4 and reaching the NFC Championship Game for the second straight time last season.
But they will have a new player at one key position who could singlehandedly decide a few games.
After longtime kicker Robbie Gould decided to depart, rookie Jake Moody will replace him as their starter, and he has apparently been doing well during OTAs.
49ers rookie Jake Moody has been fun to watch so far. Truly booming leg. Hasn’t been perfect — Tuesday’s practice featured a miss and a make on a low, ugly liner — but Moody did drill a 63-yarder on Wednesday.
That was the NFL record not too long ago
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) June 8, 2023
The Niners took Moody in the third round of April’s draft, and they’re hoping they will have a seamless transition from Gould to him.
In five seasons at the University of Michigan, he set a school scoring record with 355 points, and he made all of his 148 extra-point attempts while converting 82.1 percent of his field-goal tries.
In his six seasons with San Francisco, Gould was a very reliable field-goal kicker, and he led the NFL in accuracy during the 2018 campaign with an amazing 97.1 percent rate.
Elsewhere, the 49ers look like a powerhouse that could be destined to win their sixth Super Bowl championship.
They have a question mark at quarterback, as Brock Purdy, their incumbent starter who was the last player chosen in the 2022 draft, is recovering from a torn UCL in his throwing elbow.
If he’s unable to play when next season starts, they will go with either Trey Lance or Sam Darnold under center.
The Niners have added star defensive tackle Javon Hargrave to what was already the best defense in football in 2022, and they are pretty stacked at the skill positions on offense as well.
