Kyle Shanahan is feeling the heat, and it is coming from more than just injuries. The 49ers cut Jake Moody this week, their third-round kicker, and the move is turning into a referendum on Shanahan’s decision-making. You don’t trade up for a kicker unless you are sure. Shanahan and John Lynch were sure in 2023, sure enough to spend Day 2 capital on a position most teams fill off the street. Moody was supposed to be automatic, the reliable leg that iced playoff games. Instead, he became a weekly adventure. Misses in big spots last season, shaky confidence, and now, after just one week of 2025, he is gone. And Kyle Shanahan is now facing criticism because of that.

According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, while watching the Green Bay Packers – Washington Commanders game on Thursday night, a front-office executive told her, “This is how you build a young team … they’re the anti-San Francisco.” And Russini herself framed the bigger picture perfectly when she wrote in her report, “The misses are piling up,” pointing to a roster that has gotten older and thinner. Between the 2022 and 2023 drafts, the 49ers made 18 selections. Only seven are still on the active roster. And one of those, Brock Purdy, is sidelined with turf toe. Moody was supposed to be one of the hits. Instead, his release is just the latest miss. This is why Shanahan is catching so much criticism.

His offense is still elite when everyone is healthy. Nick Bosa, Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner, and Purdy make San Francisco as dangerous as anyone. But every September, injuries strip away that margin for error. And now, one of the players who was supposed to tilt close games in their favor is not even on the roster. Russini highlighted the urgency, saying, “Two of San Francisco’s newly highly paid stars won’t be on the field this Sunday. George Kittle is headed to IR… Brock Purdy is out against the Saints — and possibly beyond — with a form of turf toe.”

That means Kyle Shanahan is turning to Mac Jones, the quarterback he almost drafted in 2021. Shanahan has always been able to scheme his way out of problems. But this one is different. This one is about roster building, resource allocation, and accountability. You cannot trade up for a kicker, watch him flame out, and pretend it is just bad luck. Not when your team is as top-heavy and fragile as this one.

That is why this criticism feels sharper than usual. This is not about one missed field goal. This is about Shanahan’s fingerprints being all over a decision that backfired and left the 49ers thinner than ever heading into a critical stretch. Amidst all the criticism, the HC has given his reason for that decision.

Kyle Shanahan reveals reason to release Jake Moody

Kyle Shanahan didn’t sugarcoat it. After cutting former third-round pick Jake Moody, the 49ers coach admitted he “didn’t even feel like there was much of a choice.”

“Once a guy loses his confidence for whatever reason it is,” Shanahan said when he spoke to Matt Maiocco of 49ers Talk, “The stands have lost their confidence, the team ends up thinking it’s going to be a miss and not a make, and you start to see him like that. You really don’t have a choice. You gotta make a move because you can’t just bench him and let him get out of it. There is no backup.”

That’s about as raw and honest as Shanahan gets. Moody, once seen as the future of the position after being drafted in the third round in 2023, never found consistency. He converted only 24 of 34 field goals last season and missed a 27-yarder near the end of the first half in the team’s 17-13 Week 1 win over the Seahawks. It wasn’t just a miss; it was the breaking point.

Shanahan said he still believes in Moody’s talent and expects him to bounce back somewhere else, but San Francisco had to act. They are turning to Eddy Pineiro, one of the NFL’s most accurate kickers ever, with an 88.1% career mark. Moody is now on the Chicago Bears’ practice squad, looking for redemption.

The 49ers, meanwhile, are hoping this decisive move is what keeps them from letting a championship window slip away.