SANTA CLARA — The 49ers traded up Friday night to get the player everyone in the team’s draft room agreed upon.
Cheers erupted when the card was delivered that identified Penn State safety Ji’Ayir Brown as the 49ers’ third-round pick with the No. 87 overall pick.
Then, 49ers general manager John Lynch made a decision that was sure to be met with plenty of skepticism — inside and outside the organization.
San Francisco selected Michigan kicker Jake Moody with the 99th overall pick to replace reliable veteran Robbie Gould.
“There wasn’t the applause we got when we brought Ji’Ayir Brown into our own room,” Lynch admitted. “But I think everyone knows that it is necessary. And everyone feels really good about this kid.”
The 49ers selected a kicker in the NFL Draft earlier than any team since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ ill-advised decision to use 2016’s 59th pick on Robert Aguayo.
Moody will now be entrusted with taking over for the most accurate kicker in 49ers history.
After six successful seasons with the 49ers, Gould said before the start of free agency that he would not re-sign with the team.
Earlier this offseason, the 49ers made a trade for veteran Zane Gonzalez for a conditional swap of a seventh-round draft pick in 2025. Gonzalez, it turns out, was just a placeholder.
Now it is clear, Moody will replace Gould.
“I think you put in a lot of work to make the roster as competitive as we have, you’re going to be in a lot of close games and kickers are important,” Lynch said.
Scouted by special-teams coordinator Brian Schneider and the 49ers’ personnel department, Moody impressed the team’s decision makers and separated himself from the pack of other draft-eligible kickers.
“We were fortunate to have three third-round picks, and we felt he deserved one,” Lynch said of Moody.
Although the 49ers also had a pick at No. 101, they decided to take Moody at No. 99 because they don’t want to take the chance of one of the kicker-needy teams jumping on them.
Before the 49ers selected a kicker, they made a more famous choice in selecting Brown. He will likely be groomed to take over as a full-time starter for the 2024 season. Veteran Tashaun Gipson and All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga appear set as the 49ers’ starting safeties this season.
The 49ers struck a deal with the Minnesota Vikings to send picks in the third round (No. 102), fifth round (No. 164) and seventh round (No. 222) to move up to select Brown.
“Steve Wilks said, ‘That’s my dude over there,'” Lynch said of the 49ers’ new defensive coordinator.
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Brown intercepted 10 passes in his last two seasons at Penn State. He also added 4.5 sacks in his final collegiate season.
“He’s a baller,” Lynch said of Brown. “I think he’s got the pieces of what makes a Niner. He’s got the consensus of the coaches and the scouts and everybody around the building.
“He really solidified that on his tape, then he came to visit and he had an infectious personality. Everyone in the building wanted that guy.”
