If year-by-year progress was the only measure in determining NFL success, go ahead and list Maryland's Dre Moore as a professional star.
The athletic defensive tackle played only three years of high school football before joining a Terps program known for producing defensive line and linebacker talent including D'Qwell Jackson, Randy Starks and Shawne Merriman.
He got progressively better over the last two seasons as a starter, finishing with 47 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2006 and 63 tackles (8.5 for loss) and a team-high six sacks last year.
Moore is listed as the sixth-best defensive tackle in this year's draft by NFLDraftScout.com. Of course, with such a talented pool of defensive linemen, he could still be off the board before the start of the third round. He's an especially attractive prospect due to his size (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) and interaction with others in the professional game.
"They just showed me how to work, taught me that it can happen, that dreams can come true," Moore said when asked about his relationship with Merriman and Jackson, who he trains with. "...You can come out of Maryland; you can be drafted and have a career. While they were there they just took me under their wing and kind of led me around and showed me the way."
Moore has the build of a prototypical defensive tackle and worked there exclusively in Maryland's defense. He played both tackle positions.
"It's a base 4-3, we flex back and forth depending on formation by the offense or yardage," he said. "If we were a 4-3 front, I was a three technique, if we were in a three-man front, I was two-gapping it head up on the tackle."
His strength (he threw up 31 reps during the Scouting Combine on the bench press) help lock him in as a solid run-defender, but he's also made a few plays in the passing game.
Moore intercepted quarterback Matt Ryan last season, which even took him by surprise.
"We were in a 4-3 front," he said at the Combine when asked about the pick. "We audibled and we checked into a blitz and, on that particular blitz, I had to drop into coverage. I had to cross between the cutters. I got lucky. He looked right at me before he threw.
"I didn't think he was going to throw it."
Moore said he spoke to the Falcons and several other teams at the Scouting Combine and feels he can contribute right away, especially in the run game.
"It takes a hard-nosed toughness, because basically stopping the run is beating the repeated double teams," he said. "You have to welcome the double teams and not shy away."
Moore said he adopted that attitude from his father. That could also apply to his focus on steady improvement through his time at Maryland.
"I'm definitely an image of my father, Melvin Moore," he said at the Combine. "A hard-working, blue-collar guy who worked at UPS, he's very consistent. That's where I got that never-say-die attitude. My senior year was my only year of varsity (in high school). He challenged me to learn the game and that was my motivation and support system."
RELATED LINKS:
- MYFALCONSDRAFT:Rank draft prospects at MyFalconsDraft.com
- D-LINE: Previewing the defensive line
- PHOTOS: Photos of some of the 2008 NFL Draft prospects
- NFL DRAFT: Draft coverage from AtlantaFalcons.com
- SCOUTING COMBINE: AF.com at the Scouting Combine
- SENIOR BOWL: AF.com at the Senior Bowl
