D.J. Moore, Vanderbilt's two-way football star, enters the countdown of top-100 players we've covered at VandySports at No. 13.
Honors and awards: 2006 Freshman All-Southeastern Conference
2007 first-team All-SEC (second team by coaches)
2007 National Defensive Player of the Week (South Carolina game)
2008 second-team All-American (Associated Press, Sporting News, SI.com and Rivals.com)
2008 first-team All-SEC
In the VU record book: Single-season interceptions: tied-sixth (six in 2007 and 2008)
Career interceptions: tied-third (13)
Before VU: Moore was a four-year letter-winner at South Carolina's Broome High, where he starred as a receiver and a defensive back, and was MVP of the state title game. Was his region's Player of the Year and the state's Special Teams Player of the Year after returning three punts for scores. Was a two-time all-state pick at receiver; had 48 catches for 896 yards and 14 TDs as a senior, adding one rush for an 84-yard TD. Had 39 tackles and six picks on defense. Had five catches and a TD in the Shrine Bowl. Was a three-time all-state pick in basketball; team won the state his junior year. Won the state high jump title, leaping six feet, six inches.
Freshman (2006): Played in every game as a true freshman for a 4-8 (1-7 SEC) team, starting nine. Returned three punts for seven yards, and two kickoffs for 26, blocked a kick and added a quarterback hurry. In debut at Michigan, Moore earned the team's specialist of the week honors, and in his first start (at Alabama), Moore contributed six tackles and a fumble recovery. Recovered a fumble at Georgia. His lone interception of the season clinched a road win at Duke. Had three tackles in seven games.
Sophomore (2007): Started all 12 games at corner. Returned his six interceptions (which led the SEC) for 53 yards. Led the team in solo tackles (63), pass break-ups (10) and finished second in total tackles (83). Had six carries for 87 yards on offense. Returned 32 kickoffs for a then-team record 823 yards (25.7 average), with a long of 63 and seven over 40 yards. Won team's Secondary MVP award. Had 11 tackles and an interception in a season-opening win vs. Richmond. Was the National Defensive Player of the Week after posting two interceptions and eight tackles in a road win at then-No. 6 South Carolina. Saved the Ole Miss win with an interception. Had a fourth-quarter, 24-yard interception return TD vs. Eastern Michigan. Had a sack, there break-ups and six solo stops in a win over Miami (Ohio). Had nine tackles at Florida. Had seven tackles and an interception vs. Wake Forest. Was the team's Specialist of the Week against Alabama and Ole Miss. Had 39-yard rushes vs. Georgia and Miami.
Junior (2008): Started all 13 games at corner for a 7-6 (4-4 SEC) team. Returned his team-leading six interceptions for 56 yards. Caught seven passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns, adding nine rushes for 76 yards. Returned 17 punts for 244 yards (14.4 average) and added 21 kickoff returns for 189. Had a monster game at Kentucky, becoming the first VU player in modern history with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a game; that one clinched a sixth win and the team's first bowl berth since 1982. Had an interception and a 91-yard punt return to the 1-yard-line to set up 10 points in the Miami (Ohio) win. Had 138 return yards in the win over Rice, including a 67-yarder to the Owl 1.
Post-VU: Moore went pro after his junior season and was selected by Chicago in Round 4 (pick 119) of the 2009 NFL Draft. Moore played four years for the Bears and one for Carolina, playing 47 games and starting three. He had 10 career interceptions and spent a lot of time as the Bears' nickel corner.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: One thing I'll factor into the rankings, where appropriate, is how versatile a player can be. For instance, Wes Johnson, who ranked inside my top 30, could play center, guard and tackle, and that's a terrific thing to have around when injuries hit or you have a big weakness somewhere. With players like Moore, sometimes that versatility is a bit gimmicky, especially when part of the value you generate is on kickoff returns because unless you're a game-breaker, there's usually not tons of variance there.
Of course, if you're good at all those things, it's a little different. In this case, Moore was outstanding at his main thing (playing corner) and good at the others. And yes, it's true that his stint on offense was a little gimmicky, as VU didn't have a lot of offensive skill when Moore was there. In 2008, it had just three players--Sean Walker (520), Brandon Barden (209) and Justin Wheeler (145)--with more receiving yards than Moore's 143 that season. But those were also really meaningful yards; Moore's first two career catches both went for TD's in the Kentucky game, which the Commodores won, 31-24. And, of course, Moore's came in just a tiny fraction of the snaps of the others. I wonder if Moore might not have been the team's best if given a full season just at that position.
As to Moore's main job, he was a two-time, first-team All-SEC pick (winning second-team All-American one of those year) and started the majority of the games his true freshman year, something that's been fairly rare for VU corners. He's two interceptions off the school record, and had he not been good enough to go pro after his junior season, he may have not just owned that mark, but made it unbreakable for years to come.
There's no question that Moore was an elite player; he's about to enter a territory where most in front of him were All-Americans, and most of them won conference and national titles and such. But Moore was good enough that I don't think that disqualifies him from going inside the top 15.
