Robbie Gould has never missed a field goal in the postseason, going 29-for-29. That includes 21-for-21 in nine playoff games with the 49ers.
Gould is gone, though.
He remains a free agent, but the 49ers have replaced him with a rookie. They drafted Michigan’s Jake Moody in the third round.
“I’ll say this: Never once in my career did I ever [say], ‘Hey, it’s fourth down, Robbie Gould’s going out to kick a field goal. . .’ Not once was I ever in any sort of doubt,” 49ers tight end George Kittle told ESPN Chicago, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “I was like, ‘OK, well, there’s three points.’ Not worried about it at all. So this will be a new experience for me.”
For the first time in seven seasons, the 49ers don’t have Gould.
Moody made 86.7 percent of his field goal attempts in his final two seasons in Ann Arbor, but he has yet to make his first NFL field goal or his first NFL field goal with the game on the line.
The unknown is the scary part for the 49ers.
Moody was the highest drafted kicker since the Buccaneers selected Roberto Aguayo with the 59th overall choice in 2016. Aguayo, one of the best kickers in college history, lasted only one season in the NFL after missing nine field goals and two extra points as a rookie.
So, nothing is guaranteed.
“I know the kid we drafted in the third round, he’s going to be a good kicker,” Kittle said. “He’s made some big kicks in college, so I’m looking forward to that. But it is a little bit different. You’re just thinking about it maybe a little bit more because it used to be, ‘Hey, Robbie’s out there. Three points guaranteed.’ And even if Robbie did miss, I was like, ‘He’ll make the next five. I don’t really care. It is what it is.’ Never really had to worry about it.
“So I’m going to stick with that type of confidence in my new kicker, and we’ll see what happens. He is a good kicker.”