We've still got a couple more Hello posts to catch up on after the rush of National Signing Day, and today we'll go with one of the biggest commitments Michigan got on Wednesday in Derrick Moore. The defensive lineman from Baltimore had been committed to Oklahoma until Lincoln Riley's stunning departure, which re-opened his recruitment and allowed the Wolverines to slink in and lock him up. There were some questions about whether Moore would be eligible to sign with Michigan due to an NCAA rule regarding former HS coach (and current Michigan assistant) Biff Poggi, but the Wolverines felt good enough about the situation to add him to the class. In all likelihood, Moore is good to go, so it's time to meet him: 

GURU RATINGS

Last row is Seth's conversion to a five-star scale. Links are to profiles

All of the scouting services are big fans of Moore, with ESPN leading the way and assigning a near-5* score to him. The way we aggregate Seth's conversions came out to Moore receiving an average of 4.6, which placed him as the second-best recruit in this class behind Will Johnson. For a class that was a little light on high-end, top 300 recruits at the defensive line position, reeling in Moore was a coup. There's pretty broad agreement on his measurements here too, with all the services clocking him in at 6'4", and roughly 250 lbs. That size component is why it will be rather interesting to see what position Moore plays in college. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Is he a DE or a DT?]

SCOUTING

Since Moore plays on an elite HS team and has been a top recruit for years, there's plenty of scouting out there on him. For a general overview, we turn to Brian Dohn of 247:

Excellent frame with length. Carries 260 pounds like it is 240. Agile and athletic. Can bulk up and play 3-technique or stay at current size and play strong side defensive end. Fires off low and has twitch in getting up field. Wins leverage battle. Very good shoulder dip to gain edge. Has ability to redirect along line of scrimmage. 

This is a pretty gushing assessment of Moore, but perhaps what I find most interesting is what comes next, focusing on the athletic (speed-based) component of Moore's game: 

Chases plays down. Bends well and has flexibility throughout frame. Possesses closing speed. Is able to corral ball carriers in space. At his best when using speed. ... Has to continue to add strength throughout frame. Relies heavily on speed.

The speed shows up in On3's summation of Moore, reflecting on his tour of the camp circuit: 

Moves well, showing quickness and speed in the camp and combine settings. Beat some top offensive tackles in 1-on-1 reps in off-season camps

And again over at Rivals with Adam Friedman: 

He has very good speed off the edge but what makes him hard to block is the way he uses his hands to swat away offensive linemen

Speed defines Moore's game, because his size is something of a question mark as we wait to find out what position the defensive lineman will eventually play. Option A is to bulk up to play as a pass-rushing 3-tech, while Option B is to angle towards a Don Brown-anchor type role as a defensive end. Moore is presently between two players on the current roster in terms of size, slightly heavier than Kris Jenkins was, but Moore is the same height. Conversely, he's slightly lighter and a tad shorter (as a result, not as long either) than Mike Morris was entering college. But those seem to be the two diverging paths and it's up to Michigan to pick which one they want Moore going down. 

To be clear, it seems like he could do either. The speed is there, but so is some degree of power rushing, which is something that On3 pointed out, also saying that Moore "sets the edge well as a run defender". Moore's been playing defensive end in high school for the most part, but the ability to line up either outside or inside on the defensive line seems well within his grasp. Michigan will have to build his body around whichever position they want him to play, though. 

OFFERS

Moore got offers from all the blue blood usual suspects, Alabama, Florida, FSU, Georgia, LSU, Nebraska, ND, OSU, Oregon, PSU, Tennessee, and USC. He only visited three schools, though, and Oklahoma was his firm destination for a long while, not visiting anywhere besides Norman until after decommitting. Upon Riley's departure, Moore visited Ole Miss and then Michigan in the span of a few days, being on campus in Ann Arbor last weekend, just five days before announcing his commitment and signing his LOI. 

HIGH SCHOOL 

Played at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, which has become a well known national powerhouse in recent years. Michigan has mined a few players from there already, notably Blake Corum and Nikhai Hill-Green. If you remember reading the profiles on Corum and NHG, you may recall that St. Frances began building elite teams under Biff Poggi and recruiting kids from all over, which led the Maryland private schools they had been competing against to refuse to play them because the games were uncompetitive. As a result, St. Frances now plays a freelance schedule against other powerhouse programs, this year playing De La Salle (and Zeke Berry!), IMG (and Keon Sabb!), and St. Thomas Aquinas, to name a few. They went 9-1 across those games and boast more FBS talent than nearly any other HS in America. Moore played the best of the best at the HS level. 

STATS

In an article on MaxPreps recognizing Moore as the "Maryland High School Football Player of the Year", Moore is said to have piled up 52 tackles, 23 TFL, and 11 sacks as a senior this fall. Did not play last fall because the season was washed out due to COVID-19. 

FAKE 40 TIME 

Could not find one listed for him, which isn't terribly surprising for a DL. I did, however, learn that there was a Derrick Moore who played RB at Northern Oklahoma A&M and has a publicly available combine 40 time from the 2019 NFL Draft. 

VIDEO 

Annoyingly, Moore has not put together a senior year highlight reel, so we have brief senior snippets and then a reel from his sophomore season. Here's the sophomore tape: 

This next clip is one of his senior year snippet highlights, this one being of Moore getting a powerful sack. He's the DE to the top of the line: 

If you want to look at the other brief senior year highlights, you can click around his Hudl page here. 

ETC

St. Frances kid, has the Biff Poggi connection. Don't have much else. 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

If I had to guess, I think Moore is going to end up playing more EDGE than DT, simply because of the depth chart. Michigan got Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham in this class, after landing Rooks, Benny, and Iwunnah last cycle. For the first time in a little while, the DT depth looks pretty good, while the EDGE depth is a little weak if Ojabo and Hutchinson are both leaving. Yes, Moore is a little shorter than what Michigan likes size-wise from their DEs, but it's pretty easy to see him getting a Mike Morris role: playing at DE on most downs but pushing inside on pass rushing downs. Macdonald likes the multi-positional versatility and Moore gives that in the ability to plug in across the defensive line. 

If Moore is playing at DE, he's going to be behind a number of different sized bodies as the Wolverines try to figure out the proper replacement for this season's pass rush. Morris, Taylor Upshaw, Braiden McGregor, and Jaylen Harrell are among the first names who will get cracks at starting spots next season, and Moore will slot in below that. Michigan is probably going to want him to gain some amount of weight no matter where they play him, so it may not be the easiest to play immediately, but it wouldn't shock me to see Moore get some rotational snaps as a freshman a la Aidan Hutchinson in 2018. He's got the talent. 

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Well the class is mostly finished at this point. We may learn what the staff considers Moore depending on how they go about adding a final prospect or two over the next couple months. If they see him as a true EDGE, then the Wolverines may not pursue another prospect at that position even if Kevonte Henry flips. But if Henry flips and they're hitting the trail hard for another prospect or two, then you may be able to believe they see Moore as more of a defensive tackle. Regardless, he's the fourth defensive line prospect to sign in this class (following Graham, Grant, and Pollard), but there's still a lot of fluctuation on the DL with all of the late movement between Henry and Burke.