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YSU’s Moss makes Giant move
Former Youngstown State defensive standout Avery Moss was drafted on Saturday by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft with pick No. 167.
He joins fellow YSU defensive tackle Derek Rivers as selections in this year’s draft. Rivers was selected in the third round by the New England Patriots on Friday.
Moss, a first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2016, spent two seasons with the YSU program after transferring from Nebraska.
He finished with 59 total tackles, including 42 solo stops this past season and was second on the team with 17.5 TFLs and 11 sacks behind Rivers.
Moss had a team-high four forced fumbles. In the playoffs, he had 17 tackles, 14 of which were solo stops. In the Division I National Championship Game against James Madison he had eight tackles, seven of which were solos.
This is the first time since the 1984 draft that the Penguins had two players drafted in the same draft. In that draft, John Goode was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals and Paul McFadden was picked by the Philadelphia Eagles. It marks the fourth time a pair of Penguins were drafted in the same year (1979 and 1967 as well).
Most NFL Draft projections had Moss slated to be drafted in either the seventh round or that he would be signed as a free agent. But Moss battled an ankle injury for much of the workouts, and perhaps teams were able to look beyond the numbers.
“I was kind of surprised,” former defensive teammate Armand Dellovade said of Moss’ fifth-round selection. When you looked at the rankings they had him as a late pick.
“But personally I might be a little biased but I think he should’ve gone higher than he did.”
For former teammate Kevin Rader said he believes meeting coaches and general managers face to face allowed teams like the Giants to see what Moss really had to offer.
“I think it just comes down to meeting general managers and getting to know them,” Rader said. “They can see he’s a hard-working player and he’s going to get better every single day and he’s not a slacker. I think that put him above others in the draft. Character is pretty much his biggest high point.”
Moss was quoted by the Giants’ Twitter account saying “It’s a blessing to have this chance to play for the New York Giants.”
Attempts to reach out to Moss were not returned.
Dellovade said when comparing both Rivers and Moss to other defensive ends they saw this year, nobody came close.
“Other guys have strengths and weaknesses,” Dellovade said. “Neither had a weakness. They could do it all. They’re both so strong and there’s nothing they were really bad at.”
Rader, a tight end, had plenty of snaps taken against Moss and Rivers. He also concluded how much better they were than other defensive ends he went up against.
“With other guys when you’re up on them in the fourth quarter they start quitting,” Rader said. “These guys went every snap like it was third down and they were trying to get to the quarterback.”
OTHER LOCALS
Other former local standouts signed with teams as free agents following the draft.
Jared Tokarz from TheNFLDraftInsider.com tweeted that Howland alumnus and Michigan running back De’Veon Smith is signing with the Miami Dolphins while former YSU defensive back David Rivers III tweeted he’s signing with the Green Bay Packers.