Countdown to Toledo: OL Tyler Moore

Over the next 73 days, GatorCountry will preview the players that make up the 2013 Florida Gators football team as we inch closer and closer to the season.

Each day we will count down using the player whose jersey number corresponds with how many days there are left until Florida kicks off against Toledo in the Swamp on August 31.

Today we take a look at Nebraska transplant Tyler Moore.

History

Moore was an Army All-American at Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida. Moore chose to attend Nebraska over schools like California, Clemson, Georgia, Florida State, Miami, Stanford, Michigan, Ohio State, Tennessee and, yes, Florida.

Moore’s career got off to a great start, as he became the first ever true freshman to start the season opener on the offensive line in Nebraska football history. He started four games and made appearances in nine total games that year on his way to being named to the Freshmen All-BIG 12 team.

Following his freshman season, Moore decided to sit out a season for personal reasons and relocate closer to home, taking classes at St. Petersburg Community College. Moore comes into this season as a redshirt sophomore and will have three seasons to play at Florida.

Player Evaluation

Strengths

Moore’s biggest strength will be his experience. He played at a very good school and was able to start four games and earn Freshmen All-Conference honors. He’s a very strong, physical mauler who plays with great upper body strength. Moore also has the kind of mean streak that offensive linemen need to have.

Based on his performance this spring and his body type, Moore might be better-suited playing guard in the SEC rather than tackle, which he played at Nebraska and this spring at Florida.

Moore shows a good ability to get to the second level in his blocking.

Weaknesses

Moore lacks an explosive first move when run blocking and can often get too high off out of his stance. He doesn’t have the quick feet or fluidity in his technique to be reliable in pass protection either. He was too slow against players like Jon Bullard, Dominique Easley and Dante Fowler. While those are some of the best linemen in the SEC, Moore will get a steady diet of similar freaks throughout the SEC schedule.

What to Expect

Moore started at right tackle throughout the spring mainly due to the numbers that Florida had available to them. With only six, sometimes only five, healthy linemen for the spring, Moore was able to get a lot of reps and knock some of the rust off.

However, based on what we saw during limited time at spring practice, Moore is not a SEC caliber offensive tackle. That doesn’t mean he won’t be a good player for the Gators or that he won’t contribute this season. He needs to slide inside where some of his stiff technique can be covered up. He is strong enough to take on defensive tackles and even nose tackles but he doesn’t have the feet to be able to stay with speed rushers off of the edge.

Moore is still listed at right tackle on the post-spring depth chart but with the addition of Trenton Brown, expect Moore to slide inside and backup Max Garcia and Jon Halapio while Brown and Chaz Green battle for the starting job at right tackle.

 

 

 

 

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC