Finding Broncos: Scouting Alabama LB Dylan Moses
Welcome to Finding Broncos, our annual prospect-by-prospect series deep-diving on the coming NFL draft class. The scouting continues with Alabama off-ball linebacker Dylan Moses, a talented prospect, but does he fit with the Broncos?
Measurables
- Height: 6 foot 3
- Weight: 235 pounds
Stats
Sports-Reference.com
Pros
- Very smart football player with a high football IQ to break things down as they develop, just can’t overthink things.
- There is more than enough experience in the closest NFL-level conference in college football.
- Plenty of versatility with his role and scheme for the NFL and he did a lot of different things for the Crimson Tide defense.
- Was the voice of the defense for Alabama and kept them going and fighting.
- Strong tackler who rarely misses a tackle with only 13 in his career.
- His instincts, when he trusts them, are almost always spot on.
- Doesn’t bite all that often on play-action.
- Has the traits to work in certain zone coverages and in certain man coverages.
- Sound and mostly reliable as a run defender with a solid ability as a blitzer.
- Will be a coach’s best friend on the field because he has the smarts aspect of playing the game down.
Cons
- Will overthink things and be late with his responses.
- Not the most gifted athlete out there.
- Has poor recovery, which combined with a late response and poor athleticism, he is out of position a little too frequently.
- Can take really poor angles on outside runs and doesn’t have instant burst to make up for it.
- When Moses does bite on a play-action, it is a bad bite.
- He can be overaggressive and get baited at times by the quarterback’s eyes.
- Not the ideal cover linebacker for taking running backs out in the flats or on wheel routes.
- His best coverage is shorter over the middle zones and the more he gets out of that, the more of a liability he becomes.
- Needs more work done for his coverage game.
- Does his best when there isn’t much space, which either needs to be fixed or he will be limited.
Overview
The best trait about Moses is also one that gives him a lot of issues on the football field. He has a high football IQ, but sometimes he seems to overthink instead of just playing the game. That can see him late to his position in coverage, or fill the wrong running lane.
His lack of athleticism overall just piles on to the issue of overthinking because when he is late, he doesn’t have the athletic gifts to make up for it.
The right coaches can get Moses to be a very effective NFL linebacker, but it all starts with getting him to just play the game and not overthink things. Once that happens, he has the potential to blossom into a solid starting linebacker.
Fit with Broncos
Dylan Moses has the football IQ to work in the Broncos defensive scheme, but he would have to settle down and stop overthinking. Vic Fangio may be the coach to get that issue resolved, but there is some risk.
Additionally, they need more of a cover answer for the tight ends in the division and Moses isn’t the best guy to handle that job. This is a prospect-team pairing that makes sense for some reasons, but doesn’t make sense for even more reasons.
Grade: Round 3
Where he goes: Round 3
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