49ers' Lynch: Teams Tried to Get in Front of Us to Draft 3rd-Round Kicker Jake Moody

San Francisco general manager John Lynch said the 49ers had a good reason for their surprising third-round selection of Michigan's Jake Moody.

The 49ers took Moody with pick No. 99, making him only the third kicker selected before Round 4 since 2006. That was necessary to get Moody before other teams could, Lynch said Thursday on KNBR's Murph & Mac show (h/t NFL.com).

"I can tell you, since then, that a lot of teams have called and said, 'You know, shortly thereafter they were going there,'" Lynch said. "And in fact, teams tried to trade up to get in front of us. So, something we feel really good about. Time will tell, as it will with all these guys. But we think he has the makings of a really cornerstone, foundational-type player for years to come for us, and we're proud to have him a part of us."

Moody is the Wolverines' all-time leading scorer with 355 points. He received two Big Ten kicker of the year honors and was named the top placekicker in college football in 2021.

Moody also holds the Michigan record for longest field goal after scoring on a 59-yard kick in December during the 2022 Fiesta Bowl.

"I think this guy will give us an opportunity to extend where we've been able to kick from," Lynch said. "I think we'll be able to kick the 55-plus-yarders now. I think on the kickoffs, this is a guy who can put 'em into the end zone when we need, kick 'em out of the end zone. We can hang it up there. I think he affords us the opportunity to do a lot of things."

The 49ers selected Moody with one of their NFL-high seven compensatory picks. The league offers extra picks for the development of minority coaches and GMs, and San Francisco products like New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh and Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans earned the 49ers the Nos. 99, 101 and 102 selections.

"We call it a third-round pick," Lynch said. "Really a (compensatory) three, which we kind of see as fourth-round picks. And we felt like that was a really good value."

Lynch called having three late third-round picks clustered close together a "luxury." San Francisco used them to grab Moody and then added to both offense and defense by selecting tight end Cameron Latu and packaging No. 102 for pick No. 87, with whom they picked safety Ji'Ayir Brown.

The Athletic's Matt Barrows reported in April that multiple other teams, including the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans, had expressed interest in Moody ahead of the draft.

Moody will now compete with trade acquisition Zane Gonzalez to become the 49ers' go-to placekicker in 2023.