Ryan Moores ’13 Gets Invite to Falcons Camp

Monday, April 29, Middlebury offensive tackle Ryan Moores ’13 received an invitation to attend the Atlanta Falcons’ three-day rookie mini-camp. The 6’6’’, 315-pound Moores, who went undrafted in last weekend’s NFL Draft, will travel to Atlanta Friday, May 3.

A number of different teams contacted Moores in the lead up to the NFL Draft last week and again in its immediate aftermath. While Moores ultimately reached an agreement with the Falcons, the Seattle Seahawks, who recently re-signed former Middlebury kicker Steven Hauschka ’07, were among the teams that expressed interest.

“During the last month [my agent and I] were in communication with about six teams,” Moores wrote in an email. “Once the draft ended Atlanta and Seattle showed the most interest. I ended up choosing Atlanta because it provides the best opportunity to make it to training camp.”

Offensive line coach Joe Early recognized Moores’s potential during his sophomore season when Moores first earned a starting role on the team.

“After [Moores’s] sophomore year, I new there was a chance … because you can’t teach his size,” Early said. “He was still learning to be a better player and moved from the left tackle to the right tackle, which was interesting because the NFL coaches I’ve spoken to say he’s a natural right tackle.”

Moores quickly established himself as one of the NESCAC’s best offensive lineman, earning second-team ALL-NESCAC honors his sophomore and junior seasons before being named a first-team All-NESCAC selection and d3football.com first-team All-American after his senior year.

The Massachusetts native acknowledged that attempting to make an NFL roster presented different challenges than he faced playing in the NESCAC.

“I think the biggest adjustment will be the level of competition — more specifically the speed and size of the players compared to what we face in the NESCAC,” said Moores.
Early echoed this sentiment, adding, “Seeing a guy who can rush him at 280 pounds is very different from a guy who rushes him at 230 pounds.”

While the speed of the players will test Moores, playing in Bob Ritter’s pass- heavy, up-tempo offensive has better prepared him for the tempo of the NFL. In eight games last year the Panthers ran 684 plays, an average of 81 a game. By comparison, the New England Patriots led the NFL while running just over 74 plays per game.

“His skill set is in pass protection,” said Early. “He picked a good program [in the Falcons] to go to that’s a little more pass friendly, but you still have to run the ball in the NFL the way you run the ball here.”

Learning a new offense, and the complexity of the protection packages involved will provide another significant test for Moores.

“The one thing that is going to be different is the verbiage,” said Early. “Our plays are much more condensed. It’s the same thing, but they call it elongated [in the NFL]. Learning the new offense is hard for everybody.”

Moores understands that his ability to learn the offense and execute it successfully might determine his future with the Falcons.

“In order to earn a pre-season roster spot, I need to impress the coaching staff by picking up the playbook quickly and giving 100 percent in every drill,” he said.

Though Moores is attempting to accomplish what few NESCAC players have in the past, ultimately the distinction makes little difference in the end.

“I think he’s going to prove that he’s tough, that he’s a 'yes sir, no sir'-type guy and at some point they’re not going to care that he went to school,” said Early.