Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Vanderbilt's D.J. Moore speeding toward the NFL draft


D.J. Moore is still being projected to go in the first round of the NFL draft next month. No doubt we're going to miss him. It's almost funny, though, to read such hypercritical analysis of him. Most analysts are saying he'd be a high first-rounder if he were two inches taller. Sure, and Reshard Langford would be a first rounder if you shaved only two-tenths of a second off his 40 time. And Chris Nickson might be drafted if he could put the ball two feet closer to his receivers.

As it stands, D.J. should go in the bottom of the first round unless he wows the folks at the combine, which is highly possible. Here's a kid nobody but Vanderbilt wanted and he's been wowing the rest of the SEC since the day he hit the field. And he's got no shortage of confidence.

Yes, he's short, and nowhere was that more apparent than in the first quarter of the Georgia game when A.J. Green made him look about four feet tall. You could see the eyes of all those fans wearing red and black just light up. But then D.J. held him in check for the rest of the game and the Commodores actually had a chance in the end.

So if scouts are going to mention a couple of plays they saw on film, they should also go ahead and watch the entire game. And then they should watch the Kentucky game, in which D.J. caught two touchdown passes and grabbed two interceptions.

And who did he burn for one of those touchdowns?

Trevard Lindley, who enters next season as the No. 1 ranked cornerback prospect in the nation.

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