What Riley Moss did in 2021 would be difficult to match. Iowa’s top corner intercepted four passes — two for touchdowns. He captained an elite defense, earned honors as a first team All-American, and positioned himself to be drafted into the NFL.
He lettered all four years, and it was all but a certainty that Moss was going to the NFL — even Kirk Ferentz thought so.
“Riley took it into January, and I really didn’t think he would come back.” Ferentz said.
— Riley Moss (@R_moss5) January 5, 2022
Until he did.
“This year, no question has helped him in his future. He would love to play in the NFL. My big concern with him coming back, and I’ve told the NFL people this, is, okay, you get a guy back for that year maybe you’re not counting on, so what’s it going to be like? First guy out there on the field every day in spring ball and worked his tail off every day. That’s how he does things.”
Moss didn’t have nearly as flashy of a senior sequel, he had just one interception. Part of it is teams realized throwing at No. 33 was a bad idea. So they started throwing at the other side of the field — to Cooper DeJean, who had five interceptions.
“You didn’t have to worry about much with him, he always did his job,” DeJean said about Moss. “It was a blast playing with him.”
And Moss is a man who marches to the beat of his own drum — and does things his own way. And he’s about to make history, and I’m just stating facts here. There hasn’t been a white cornerback to start an NFL game since 2003, when Kevin Kaesviharn started for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Penn State’s Troy Apke was drafted as a safety in 2018 by the Washington Commanders, and converted to corner in 2021 — and was released early in 2022. Moss hopes to have different fortunes, and there’s one thing already working in his favor: NFL teams view him as a corner. And those who think he’s a safety don’t bother him.
The former two-star who didn’t receive a scholarship coming out of Ankeny has had a chip on his shoulder since his high school recruitment.
“I was a two-star recruit coming out of high school,” Moss said at the NFL combine. I was originally committed to North Dakota State. I had no power five offers, it’s always been me against the world. I wake up every morning and remind myself people don’t want you here.”
He’s got the speed of an NFL corner — the former track star in high school ran a 4.45 40-yard dash (12th best among 25 cornerbacks who tested at the combine). Moss also ran the seventh best 10-yard split. On top of that, Moss is a 6-foot-1 corner who can make plays in the run game.
Moss isn’t just a “unique” corner, if you want to call him that — he’s a coveted one. ESPN analyst Todd McShay has Moss going in the second round — 56th overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The general consensus seems to be that he could go as high as the second round, and as low as the fifth:
ESPN (Todd McShay): second round, 56th overall, Jacksonville Jaguars
CBSsports.com (Ryan Wilson): fifth round, 146th, New Orleans Saints
NFL.com (Chad Reuter): fourth round, 128th, New York Giants
The Athletic (Dane Brugler): fourth round, 128th, New York Giants
As for a comp, let’s get creative. I mean, it’s not like I can be lazy and compare him to another white NFL corner, which the media often does with basketball stars. Let me do my best to channel my inner NFL nostalgia.
NFL comparison: Chidobe Awuzie
I was thinking about Ronald Darby or Ross Cockrell. But, I like to think about the upside when it comes to the Hawkeyes — and this feels right. Awuzie was a highly touted prospect coming out of Colorado (60th overall to the Cowboys in 2017), but missed a handful of games in college and has also missed significant time in the NFL.
However, Awuzie turned out to be an effective player. The measurables to Moss are quite similar: Moss (6-foot-1, 193 pounds) and Awuzie (6-foot, 202 pounds) ran nearly identical 40 times (4.45 vs. 4.43). Now, let’s find Moss a landing spot.
Blake’s official prediction: Detroit Lions, third round, 81st overall.
Dan Campbell needs to fix his defense that surrendered the third-most passing yards in the NFL in 2022. The Lions also played the fifth-most zone coverage of any team, and Moss played excellent as a No. 1 corner in Phil Parker’s zone-heavy scheme.
Detroit’s making an active effort to improve their secondary, signing former Steelers veteran Cameron Sutton and moving off former No. 3 overall pick Jeff Okudah.
But to wrap this all together, the Riley Moss story began at Ankeny as a two-star recruit and will end playing professional football. He’s just one of the many examples of Iowa football transforming unheralded talent into All-American nominees. Riley Moss carries the Tiger Hawk just like anybody else that’s played at Kinnick in the black and gold.
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