Photo Credit: Martha Michalak, Northville High School

New Michigan Man: Grayshirt K Jake Moody Commits to Michigan

Posted onAuthorGarrett Fishaw

After landing the top kicker in the 2016 class thanks to a legendary sleepover, Jim Harbaugh went ahead and added the top ranked kicker in the 2018 class as Northville (MI) K Jake Moody accepted a grayshirt offer and committed to Michigan just days before National Signing Day.

Commitment

Scouting Report

Moody is a strong legged, accurate kicker that can handle both field goal and kickoff duties. He’s also a candidate to punt at Michigan but it’ll likely be his kickoff ability that may be his quickest way to see the field. Brad Robbins struggled throughout his freshmen season, Quinn Nordin, though had some hiccups, was one of the top performing freshmen kickers in the country, and outstanding KO specialist, James Foug, is in his senior season. The plan looks to be for him to be Foug’s replacement at first before taking over for Nordin the starting placekicker in 2020/2021.

Kohl’s Pro Camps’ scouting report

Moody recently attended the National Scholarship Camp in July of 2017. His leg strength has gotten better and he was impressive on field goals and kickoffs at camp. He has the ability to punt in college but needs to work on consistency of his drop and keeping it more in line with his leg swing up and through the ball. He charted 26 points on FG and had a KO score of 106.7. We feel that Moody is a D1 scholarship kicker who will continue to develop in punting as well. His leg speed is outstanding and different than most top level players in the 2018 class.”

Kornblue Kicking’s scouting report:

“During his senior season, he drilled FG’s from 58, 57, and 55 yards in games (off a 1/2 inch block). The 58 yard FG is the 2nd longest FG in Michigan state history. He holds the state record for most made FG’s in a high school career.

His FG’s and kickoffs continue to dominate every time he attends our camps. At our October 2017 Michigan Fab 50 Camp, his kickoffs consistently charted 75+ yards with 4.0+ hangtime. He won the FG competition with a 55 yarder.

Kicking is his strength but Jake is also a solid punter. His best punt at the most recent camp charted 4.58/48 yards.”

Recruitment

As a kicking prospect, no matter the national ranking, it takes time for Power Five programs to extend offers. That’s especially true for schools that already have multiple scholarships specialists on the roster, like Michigan features. But for the second time in two classes, the nation’s top ranked kicker was right in the Wolverines’ backyard and was clearly too hard to pass up. 

Moody, who has visited Ann Arbor several times for games and events, held offers from the likes of Central Michigan, Air Force and UMass. So, when Michigan extended a grayshirt offer (meaning he won’t enroll in classes until the 2nd semester of his freshmen year and won’t be on scholarship until then, though, according to his interview with TMI’s Evan Petzold, a blueshirt is possible too; meaning he could practice but not play his freshmen year) on January 18th, it was too much for him to pass up. He committed to the Wolverines on Super Bowl Sunday during a visit to town with his family, giving Jim Harbaugh his second top-ranked kicker commit in two years.

  • Height: 6’0”
  • Weight: 180lbs
  • Hometown (School): Northville, MI (Northville)
  • Notable Offers: Central Michigan, Air Force, UMass, Bowling Green
  • Rankings: Rivals (NR) – 247Sports (N/A) – Kohl’s (5*, #14 K/#61 P) – Kornblue (5*, #1 18′ K)

Highlights

As for the Rest of the Class 

Moody is the 23rd member of the 2018 class (5th member of the 2019 class, which is when his scholarship will kick in), the first specialist and the 6th in-state commitment overall. With him in the fold, the staff looks to close out National Signing Day by receiving LOIs from WR Ronnie Bell, ATH Michael Barrett, DB Vincent Gray and OLB Otis Reese. Besides that, it looks unlikely Michigan will be getting good news from OT Nicholas Petit-Frere and definitely won’t be getting it from OT Jarrett Patterson. It wouldn’t be the biggest surprise to see a Dennis Norfleet/Delano Hill-like last second offer from the staff, though it’s unlikely.

Photo Credit: Martha Michalak, Northville High School

Garrett Fishaw
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