SANTA CLARA >> The 49ers waited longer than ever in team history to start drafting, and once they did in Friday night’s third round, they hit on needs with safety Ji’Ayir Brown, kicker Jake Moody and tight end Cameron Latu.

Wait, a kicker?

Yes, only the seventh placekicker ever drafted by the 49ers. But Moody comes with the endorsement of his distinguished predecessor, Robbie Gould. The two are represented by the same agent and met over dinner in February at the scouting combine in Indianapolis.

“I’m not sure if he felt the need to pass the torch down to a newer guy in the league, but he’s been a really good mentor the past few months,” Moody said Friday night.

Gould, 40, the 49ers’ kicker for the previous six seasons, is a free agent after having announced in March that he and the 49ers were parting ways.

“I’m so fired up,” Moody said. “… (Gould) texted me a few minutes ago to tell me how excited he is for me and what a great place it is.”

Niners G.M. John Lynch, addressing the rarity of drafting a kicker, said: “You put this much work into making your roster as competitive as we have, you’re going to be in a lot of close games. Kickers matter.”

Lynch did note it “wasn’t easy” making Moody the NFL’s highest-drafted kicker since 2016 when Tampa Bay used a second-round pick on Roberto Aguayo. That didn’t go well; Aguayo was cut after one season.

Moody leaves Michigan as its all-time leading scorer, and he’ll take on a pressure role on another championship-caliber team, which last month traded for former Carolina Panthers kicker Zane Gonzalez.

Of the previous six kickers drafted by the 49ers, only two have lasted as long as two seasons: Steve Mike-Mayer (third round, 1975-76) and Jeff Chandler (fourth round 2002-03.) Doug Brien, a third-round pick out of Cal in 1994, was cut during the following seasons.

While adding a kicker seemed a glaring need, adding depth at safety and tight end were other logical moves, on a day that began with news of the 49ers picking up wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s 2024 fifth-year option. Lynch said the 49ers declined defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw’s fifth-year option but are excited about his return from knee issues.

TOP PICK >> The 49ers did not have a pick in the first two rounds, then they moved up 12 spots in the third round to No. 87, where they took Brown, this year’s Rose Bowl defensive MVP for Penn State.

Selecting a safety makes sense for one of the NFL’s best defenses, in that Brown could pair with All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga as the 49ers’ safety tandem for the foreseeable future. Brown must first unseat Tashaun Gipson Sr., who re-signed last month after serving as Hufanga’s veteran wingman last season.

“I’m more excited than anybody to conversate and learn from those guys, piggyback off them, and help this team win a Super Bowl,” Brown said in a video conference call with reporters.

When Brown got a congratulatory call from the 49ers’ draft room, both he and team officials struggled to hear because of the pandemonium of Brown’s happy family and friends at his New Jersey party. The 49ers were just as excited.

To move up 12 spots to get Brown, the 49ers’ sent the Minnesota Vikings three picks — Nos. 102 at the end of the third round, No. 164 in the fifth, and No. 222 in the seventh.

“He’s a baller,” said Lynch, a Pro Football Hall of Fame safety. “He’s got the components of what makes up a Niner. We had a consensus of coaches to scouts to all around the building. He solidified that with the tape, but he came here on (a pre-draft)visit and has that infectious personality.”

Brown (5-foot-11, 202 pounds) played the past three seasons at Penn State after transferring from Lackawanna Community College in Scranton, Pa., where he was teammates with Chicago Bears safety Jaquan Brisker. Brown is a New Jersey native and goes by the nickname, “Tig,” short for Tigger (from “Winnie The Pooh”) which is how his mom referred to him for bouncing on her lap as a baby.

NEW TIGHT END >> Alabama’s Latu (6-2, 242) joins a tight end corps led by seventh-year veteran George Kittle with Charlie Woerner and Ross Dwelley in backup roles. Latu was the ninth tight end drafted; only one (Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills) went in the first round.

Latu was a pass-rushing linebacker his first year at Alabama in 2018 before being asked by coaches — Nick Saban and former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian — if he’d move to tight end, where he played some at Olympus High School in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“I watched a lot of their tape, and a lot of the ‘run stuff’ we do at Alabama, we stole from the 49ers because their run package is phenomenal,” Latu said. “Kittle’s blocking and tech, I learned a lot from him. In the passing game, he does the same thing just as well, with contested catches, and yards after the catch. I’m excited to go learn under that offense.”