Five-star Friday: Get to know No. 2 overall recruit Dylan Moses
It’s just less than five months until the 2016 season begins and just less than 10 months until the recruiting class of 2017 can sign their National Letters of Intent. With fierce recruiting battles underway for the top recruits in the country, it’s a good time to get to know the players who appear poised to become college football stars in the near future. Last week, we analyzed Najee Harris, the top-rated recruit in the class of 2017, according to Scout.com. This week, it’s Dylan Moses, the No. 2 player in the class.
Bio
Name: Dylan Moses
Rank: No. 2 overall, No. 1 athlete
Height/Weight: 6’1.5’’/220 lbs
High School: IMG (Fla.) Academy
Commitment status: Uncommitted
Phelan M. Ebenhack via AP
Scouting evaluation (from Scout.com)
Where do you want Moses to play? Do you want him to score touchdowns as a running back? Do you want him to play with speed from sideline to sideline as a linebacker? Do you want him to rush the passer? Not many are like this young man. He does so many things at an extremely high level and he could be a Sunday guy on either side of the ball. He has a rare combination of size, speed, strength, athleticism and toughness. A quick-twitch athlete.
• Scout.com's complete class of 2017 recruiting rankings
The latest
It’s been more than two years since Moses first issued a verbal commitment to a program; now the five-star prospect is only months away from ending his college recruitment. As a freshman at University Lab (La.) School in September 2013, Moses announced his intention to attend to LSU, but he elected to withdraw that pledge last August. Moses subsequently said that Alabama was his leader, with Florida, Georgia, Texas and LSU rounding out his top five.
He reiterated in February that the Crimson Tide were his top option, but Moses’s list has changed since then. In April, following an unofficial visit to Texas, Moses indicated the Longhorns were his top school and that Alabama (No. 2), UCLA and LSU (Nos. 3) and USC comprised the rest of his top five. “All I wanted to hear was how I fit in the defense and as far as that conversation I really liked it and it went well and that’s why I have them at number one,” Moses said then, according toThe Times-Picayune in New Orleans.
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While that’s a promising development for Texas, it will need to deliver a strong season to stay in the hunt to land Moses. The Louisiana native, who transferred from University Lab to IMG Academy earlier this year, has said that he plans to enroll in college early.
How he fits
One of Moses’s biggest assets is his versatility. While he’s listed as an athlete on Scout.com, Moses likely projects to play as a linebacker in college. As referenced above, Moses indicated earlier this month that he’s pleased with what he’s learned about how Texas envisions him fitting into its defense.
A linebacking corps featuring both Moses and Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year Malik Jefferson would be a nightmare for opposing offenses, but it’s probably too early to consider that possibility, given the number of schools vying to sign Moses and the fact that he’s already committed to (and subsequently decommitted from) one school and then named two others his leaders. In other words, there is still a long way to go in Moses’s recruitment, but wherever he lands, his combination of athleticism and strength should enable him to fill a variety of roles on defense.
