bobinaz Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I still much prefer Merriman as the every down OLB, and if they need Moats for certain pass plays, so be it. Merriman, imo, has been pretty valuable this season, even without flashy sacks. I think the combination of the two outside is a good move. Teams have already been taking the play away from Merriman's direction, so now they'll have to choose their poison with both on the field. Moats is very good a rushing the passer. I think we'll see some sacks from both of them tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Overview The 2009 Buck Buchanan Award winner (best defender in the FCS) and Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year is another undersized defensive end looking to transition to linebacker at the next level. His athleticism and quickness during the Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Challenge and good marks in agility testing at the Scouting Combine showed scouts he could hold his own against prospects from larger schools. Moats' production improved in each of his four years at JMU. He made 18 stops (two for loss) in playing every game as a true freshman. In 2007, he earned five starts as part of a rotation, recording 6.5 sacks. He earned third-team All-CAA honors as a junior, starting every game and making 15.5 tackles for loss including 11.5 sacks. Last fall, he made 90 tackles, led the FCS with 23.5 tackles for loss and corralled quarterbacks 11 times to win the Buchanan Award by the biggest margin in the event's 15 years. Moats looked comfortable at linebacker in El Paso for the all-star game, and lined up there on occasion while playing for the Dukes. NFL teams feel he can continue to improve at the second level, becoming a similar player to Colts starting outside linebacker and former fourth-round pick Clint Session. Analysis Read & React: Smart, instinctual player, but is still learning the linebacker position. Does not bite hard on play-action or misdirection, but takes a second too long to read run so linemen can reach him. Accelerates to the ball quickly once he recognizes the play. Run defense: Inexperienced playing the run from the stack, but flows through trash fairly well to attack the ball. Will overrun the play when scraping and take aggressive angles. Lacks size and length to get off pro linemen blocks when reached at the second level. Can avoid those blocks with violent hands, however, and can shed tight end blocks on the edge to stop the run. Plays low, using his low center of gravity to maintain leverage. Good effort to makes plays to the sideline and downfield. Pass defense: Flips open his hips fluidly when dropping into a zone, able to get good depth. Good awareness of players in his zone but needs to improve his route recognition, but that could come with time. Gives up height to tight ends when man-up but is strong enough to knock them off their route from the nine-technique. Stays low in pedal, able to change directions quickly to chase the play. Tackling: Explosive tackler who brings his hips and plants ballcarriers into the ground. Stays low into the man and rarely gets eluded once in the play, even if getting only an arm on the ballcarrier. Will chase plays downfield and be the second or third man into the pile, keeping his legs moving until the whistle is blown. Takes the correct angle when trying to prevent big plays. Has a chance to be a good inside special teams player because of his speed, hands and aggressive tackling. Pass Rush/Blitz: Explosive rusher on the edge with spin, outside-in, bull rush and swim moves. Spends a lot of time in the opponent's backfield with quickness off the snap. Gets under taller tackles' pads to push lesser tackles back and can go under their armpit to turn the corner quickly. Strong tackler who does not let go of quarterbacks once they are in his grasp and typically plants him in the ground. Intangibles: Team captain. Put in extra time in the weight room before his senior year to become stronger, as well as more time in the film room to be a smarter player. Coaches love his work ethic and leadership. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1277382 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Good This team needs more depth at OL then at MLB. With the signing of Morrison and also Sheppard we go 4 deep at MLB. While at OLB we only have one quality backup OLB and that's Batten. Moats and Batten do a nice job of adding depth at the OLB position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twist_to_open Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Duuuukkkkessss!!! I'm a little bias because Author Moats and my daughter went to JMU together. He's a good kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowery4 Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 One other thing, I also assume that Morrison is healthy again? Maybe this was the plan since they picked him up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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