the recruit: Morgan Moses

I've been looking forward to this, because it means I can get started on the class of 2010. Hopefully next week I will be able to write on both Hunter Steward and Kevin Parks, and then I can write these things the way I always intended, which is to say, the day of or day after a verbal commit. Trivial, maybe, but a step toward doing things the way I'd envisioned.

Name: Morgan Moses
Position: OT
Hometown: Richmond
School: Meadowbrook
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 347

ESPN: 83, #6 OT, #48 overall
Rivals: 6.0, four stars, #5 OT, #2 in VA, #49 overall
Scout: four stars, #15 O

I'm not gonna bore you to death here. Moses' recruitment lasted all year and didn't finish up til Signing Day, so everyone knows everything already. I don't know whether he'll be eligible or not - my guess is he will, and he'll be in fall camp, and once there he's too much of a freak not to be the starter on September 4 against W&M. Landon Bradley is probably a fine tackle, but he's not a freak like Moses. The main thing Moses will have to overcome is wilier upperclassmen defensive ends with bad designs on our quarterbacks, and I think if the guy under center ends up being Jameel Sewell or Vic Hall - someone mobile - this won't be as big an issue.

Moses is not only exciting because of the gaudy stars and ratings and such the scouts give him, but because it's clear on film that he likes destroying people. I very much doubt the coaches will ever have to tell him to finish a block, because he tends to finish them into the bleachers. He also tends to end up well downfield of the play - either because he's got the athleticism to get there and block at the second level, or because he's got the strength to shove somebody there. Pictures are worth a thousand words, and so here are my two favorite highlights, along with captionized editorials that I slaved over Microsoft Paint for three minutes making:




Trucking people is a Morgan Moses specialty. He also came off as genuinely uncomfortable with all the attention that's typically paid to a recruit with his talent and gave very, very infrequent interviews; therefore I have a hunch we will, at some point in the future, be treated to one of those articles or halftime spots where the subject is such a humble quiet guy off the field but a giant raging ball of nuclear death between the sidelines.

I'll finish off with as comprehensive a list as I can make of Moses' offers:

Virginia
Virginia Tech
Maryland
Tennessee
West Virginia
Georgia
Clemson
Alabama
South Carolina
North Carolina
LSU
Miami
Florida
Michigan
Penn State
Oklahoma
Florida State
UCLA

Ohio State also came on late but never actually extended an official offer. Given that list, which is missing half his offers, the fact that we landed him despite firing one of his lead recruiters is a testament to the efforts of the coaching staff. Moses is far and away the highest-profile, highest-rated recruit we've landed since Eugene Monroe, who not coincidentally is a possibility as the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft. Those are big shoes to fill, but given Moses' freakish size and athleticism, and his fondness for bulldozing defensive ends, it's not a stretch to say those shoes might get a little tight by the time he's done.