Written by
Rob Demovsky
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Shortly after the Green Bay Packers signed their undrafted rookie free agent class of 14 players, General Manager Ted Thompson was asked whether he thought any of them had a chance to make the team.
“It seems like one or two of them always does,” Thompson said.
This year, it could be outside linebacker Dezman Moses, who has caught the eye of Packers’ scouts and coaches during his first month with the team.
This week, when the Packers held out Clay Matthews from team drills during part of the organized team activities, the 6-foot-2, 249-pound Moses saw his practice time spike. He worked with the second-string defense at right outside linebacker behind Erik Walden, who took Matthews’ place with the starters.
For all the high draft picks the Packers spent to bolster their pass rush, adding outside linebacker Nick Perry in the first round and defensive end Jerel Worthy in the second, perhaps an undrafted free agent signed for a few thousand bucks could help, too.
“I think Moses has a natural feel for the position,” Packers outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene said. “He does a couple of things that just absolutely look natural in his movement for the position. He sees things at a very early stage. In the scheme implementation of our defense, he’s starting to see things early, and that’s always positive. He was a linebacker (in college), so he’s not making too far of a transition playing this position. He really has some good, natural feel about him.”
To be sure, it’s been a few years since Moses played outside linebacker. He was a backup at that spot for parts of two seasons at Iowa but saw his playing time drop after he served a suspension following a public intoxication arrest early in the 2008 season. He then transferred to Tulane, where he played two years at defensive end. As a senior, he had 9½ sacks in 13 games and was a second-team all-Conference USA selection by the league’s coaches.
“It’s like jogging your memory,” Moses said of switching back to outside linebacker. “It’s something you haven’t done in a while. You’ve got to teach your body the muscle memory. I’ve done it before so as you do it more, you become more comfortable with it. I’m just trying to get the overall scheme down so I can adapt and play fast.”
Page
1
2
Next
—
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com and follow him on Twitter @RobDemovsky.