The San Francisco 49ers were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday, losing to the Miami Dolphins 29-17 to fall to 6-9 on the season in another disappointing finish.

It was a game cluttered with mistakes for the 49ers from the opening kickoff, as they were undisciplined, struggled in the red zone, and had an untimely interception that sealed their fate on Sunday.

One specific aspect of Sunday’s loss has been a consistent issue all season long: missed kicks from second-year pro Jake Moody.

Moody, who was drafted in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, missed a 41-yard chip shot during a crucial sequence of drives for the 49ers, which seemed to serve as a part of the turning point in Sunday’s game.

The kick was Moody’s seventh miss of the year, and his 76.7 percent field goal rate ranks 30th among kickers with at least 10 field goal attempts this season.

To make matters worse, the kicks, like Sunday’s, haven’t always been from beyond 50 yards. Instead, Moody has been 6/10 on field goals between 40-49 yards this season, and he’s now 10/16 in his career between that distance.

“I mean, [my confidence in Jake Moody] wasn’t good out there missing that kick,” Shanahan acknowledged after the game. “I don’t know exactly what happened on the snap and the hold, but that’s one he’s got to make.”

The 49ers made a significant investment in Moody when drafting the kicker in the third round last year, which was the highest a kicker had been selected since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took Roberto Aguayo in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

As his second season continues, Moody is looking more and more like the next 49ers third-round miss, as it’s becoming likelier that the 49ers explore other options following the season.

A kicker known for his strong leg and ability to make clutch field goals during his career at Michigan, Moody has yet to relay that success to the NFL, especially on the road.

All seven of Moody’s misses have come on the road this year, where he’s been just 2/9 from 40+ yards, which are both disastrous marks.

Last season, Moody’s 84 percent field goal mark ranked in the bottom 10 for qualified kickers in the NFL. Still, there was optimism that the third-round pick could turn things around for the better in 2024 with a year under his belt, despite playing a position where development wasn’t really an area that the 49ers could wait upon.

But, things have turned ugly here in 2024, and the 49ers are slowly seeing their 2023 NFL Draft class start to fizzle out early on.

Top draft pick Ji’Ayir Brown lost his starting spot to fourth-round rookie Malik Mustapha after inconsistent play all year long. Moody is at the risk of potentially getting cut this offseason after some worrisome results in his sophomore campaign. Another third-round pick, tight end Cameron Latu, was cut after just one season.

Looking down the list at San Francisco’s 2023 draft class, cornerback Darrell Luter has yet to play meaningful snaps, while bottom-three picks Brayden Willis, Ronnie Bell, and Jalen Graham have all been waived by the organization at one point.

The only player who has seen quality snaps has been sixth-round linebacker Dee Winters, who was rotating in with De’Vondre Campbell this year, and is now the No. 2 linebacker to Fred Warner with Dre Greenlaw’s recent injury.

For a team that is as top-heavy as the 49ers are this year, the 2023 draft class was supposed to be integral in providing depth pieces at crucial positions to keep San Francisco balanced.

Unfortunately, the team has seemingly struck out at a number of positions with poor draft choices, especially at the top of the draft.