NFL Draft 2014: Morgan Moses scouting report

Breno Giacomini is set to be a free agent this off season and he most likely won't be re-signed. As a team essentially at or near their cap limit, the Seahawks simply may not be able to afford to pay Giacomini his market value and still retain enough money to pay more important players - Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, Michael Bennett, Earl Thomas, Doug Baldwin, and Golden Tate. Even without paying Giacomini his market value, the Seahawks are still going to have trouble retaining all of those players.

With Giacomini likely gone, the RT position is wide open. Of players currently on the roster, two early favorites to fill Giacomini's place next year are Michael Bowie and Alvin Bailey. Bowie started seven games at RT when Giacomini was hurt last season and he looked like he could be a starting RT in the NFL. He played well against the Colts and Titans, but struggled against the Rams and the Cardinals. Bowie has proven that he can be effective against subpar defenders but has yet to show that he can hang with the upper echelon DEs and OLBs.

Alvin Bailey has also been impressive in his limited time as a Seahawk. Bailey didn't play for much of the year until the Seahawks decided that he was going to be their 3rd string TE in the playoffs. He would essentially become the 3rd OT in this personnel grouping that designed to run the ball, and was very effective in this personnel package often blowing up LBs as they tried to take on his inertial blocks. Bailey was rarely asked to pass block this part of his game remains uncertain.

Between these two, Bowie is likely the favorite because he is already ahead of Bailey on the depth chart, but obviously it is still early and Bailey could have the offseason of his life thus later winning the starting position. This will all play itself out in training camp and may be one of the best position battles of the summer.

However, just because the Seahawks have two players that look like they can be future starting offensive lineman in this league, does not mean that they will not look to address this position in the draft. PCJS are never satisfied with the roster and are constantly looking to find ways to improve the team. If there is a RT at the end that they think can compete with Bowie and Bailey for the starting RT spot, they may draft that player.

One RT prospect in the upcoming draft that is currently projected to be available at 32 that I think the Seahawks would love is Morgan Moses. Moses started 43 of the 48 games that he played in during his Virginia career. 31 of these starts were at RT before kicking over to play LT in his senior season. He has tons of game experience, he is extremely durable and is versatile.

Additionally, Moses is 6'6" tall, weighs 314 lbs, and has 34 ¾" arms. To put this in perspective, James Carpenter was 6'5" tall, weighed 321, and had 34" inch arms when they took his measurements at the combine. Moses is essentially the same size as Carpenter was and Carpenter has never been misunderstood as anything less than a whale of a man.

Carpenter's size was something that attracted the Seahawks to him and it is something that will certainly catch their eye when it comes to Moses. After the Seahawks drafted Carpenter in the first round, Tom Cable said this about the pick,

"He was a left tackle at Alabama obviously, but he's a guy we'll start the process with at right tackle knowing he has the ability to move around if we need to. But I like a lot of things about this guy; a big, massive guy - 321 pounds, a lot of length and a lot of power."

If the Seahawks were to draft Moses, expect Cable to share similar sentiments because this is how Moses can be described. He was a LT at Virginia, if drafted by the Seahawks would compete immediately at RT, could possibly play LT, he's massive, has a lot of length, and a lot of power.

In my opinion, Moses is the 2nd best run blocker in the country behind Greg Robinson. When Moses gets his 324 pound body and 9 ¾" hands on defenders, he can move them wherever he wants to on the field.

Here is him punkin' Oregon OLB, Tony Washington.

(GIFs taken from video by DraftBreakdown.com):

On this play, Virgina's offensive line blocked just like the Seahawks' offensive line would block on their outside zone runs. Morgan's assignment was to get a kick out block on the OLB whose job was to set the edge and force contain. Morgan won this match up, kicked the OLB all the way out to the numbers which created a huge running lane that led to a 46 yard TD run. If Moses blocked Ahmad Brooks all the way to the numbers next year and it led to a 46 yard TD run, (insert personal celebratory sound here).

Moses is not only a dominant run blocker but from how he plays on tape, he looks like somebody that enjoys man handling somebody. He finishes all his blocks, plays hard on every snap, and punishes defenders repeatedly. These are the exact things that Cable loves about Giacomini. When asked about Giacomini this past offseason, Cable replied,

"This guy - our mindset, how we play the game as a team - I would say you put him right at the front of that in terms of competing, and tough, and finish, and he's a guy that we know has some limitations athletically, but you get everything he's got and then a little bit more, and that's like gold."

Similar sentiments can also be shared about Moses. What makes Moses such a good run blocker is that he competes on every down, is tough and finishes his blocks.

Here is an example of Moses finishing a block against BYU

Moses manhandled BYU's OLB all the way out of bounds and continued to block him even when he was out of bounds. This is the gold that Cable is talking about -- somebody who is going to put forth maximum effort and play with so much flagrant nastiness that he is going to block a guy all the way out of bounds because that's how he likes to spend his time. That's Seahawks football.

Furthermore, even though Moses may not be as athletic as some of the other OT prospects in this year's class, he is still a decent athlete. At the very least, he is more athletic than Giacomini and Bowie so he has the potential to not only replace Giacomini, but possibly be an upgrade in the future as well. Moses can kick slide fast enough to handle most speed rushers, get to the 2nd level and block LBs in the run game, and pull to block DBs in space on screens and toss plays - all of which athletically challenged linemen struggle to do.

Here is an example of Moses blocking a LB at the 2nd level against Pittsburgh.

Virginia ran a reverse to their HB and Moses faked like he was going to cut off the linebacker on a run to the right but then came back to the left to seal the linebacker. Moses then not only blocked his defender, but had the awareness and ability block him into another LB. Who wouldn't want some of this on their team!?!?!

Furthermore, Moses is a quality pass blocker as well. He has decent feet, long arms and strong hands that allow him to lock onto pass rushers. He may not be good enough pass blocker to play LT in the NFL but he certainly looks good enough to play RT. Moses' 20 yard shuttle - a drill that is designed to measure agility in a short space - was 4.92 seconds. This was only .06 seconds slower than Greg Robinson's 20 yard shuttle, a player who many think is the best LT prospect in this class.

Here he is going one on one with one of college football's premiere pass rushers, Vic Beasley.

On 3rd and 6, Clemson sent six rushers against Virginia's five offensive linemen. Moses was matched up one on one with Beasley on an obvious passing down with no help and neutralized his speed rush. He pushed Beasley past the QB which allowed the pass to be completed for a first down.

The following play, having been ineffective with the speed rush on the previous, Beasley tried to beat Moses with an inside move. Mosley got his ten inch mitts on him though and extinguished this pass rush attempt as well.

This is when Moses is at his best. If he can get his hands latched on to the breast plate of a defender then that defender is dead. Whether it is pass or run blocking, if Moses gets inside hand position he's too big and strong for defenders to not get dominated.

Lastly, all of the previous examples were of Moses lined up at LT. The rare times that Virginia got to the goal line, Moses would line up move over to RT in an unbalanced line look. He looked like he is going to be just fine switching back over to RT in the NFL.

Here he is throwing a Georgia Tech LB into the Safety from RT.

The RB didn't get in because he isn't Marshawn Lynch and Moses' line mates did not do as violent as a job blocking as he did. This is the type of blocking that would make me very happy for years to come.

Big up to Danny for the GIFs!

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