Jarron Gilbert v. Fili Moala - YOU DECIDE 2009

It is apparent that the majority of Colts fans feel that DT is a major area of need in the 2009 Draft.  Some think DT in the 1st Round is a no-brainer.  Others think that passing up on one of the draft's top WRs in a class this deep would be a poor decision, particularly since Marvin Harrison was released earlier this year.  However, for the most part, even those people who see us using our top pick on a position other than DT believe the position must be addressed at some point on the first day.  Accordingly, this YOU DECIDE will focus on two DT prospects that may be available in the late 2nd Round which could entice the Colts and be worth the 61st pick. 

Jarron Gilbert of San Jose State and Fili Moala of USC are two DTs that have been getting a lot of attention from Colts fans and from the more respected draft analysts, both on television and on the internet.  Some think there is no way Gilbert will fall all the way down to the 61st pick, and they may be right, but it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility that the small school prospect could fall further than people might expect.  Fili Moala on the other hand, is projected to be available at 61 but will almost definitely not drop all the way down to the bottom of the 3rd Round.  If Gilbert and Moala are the only two players still on our draft board with the 61st pick, which player would you select to join the Colts in 2009?

Jarron Gilbert - San Jose State

Photo
2008 Season Highlights
Draft Guys TV
Everybody Out of the Pool - ESPN Interview With Gilbert
Gilbert Squat 635, Deadlift 655
Combine Video

6'5", 288 lbs.
4.76 40 yard Dash, 4.40 20 Yard Shuttle, 7.59 3-Cone Drill
37 Inch Vertical Jump, 28 Bench Reps
35 5/8 Inch Wingspan

SENIOR SEASON STATS:
52 Tackles, 16 Assists, 22 TFL, 9.5 Sacks, 2 FF, 3 Blocked Passes, 5 QB Hurries

INJURIES:
None listed.

ANALYSIS:

NFLDraftScout.com, TFYDraft.com

Strengths: Rare athleticism for a player of his size. Versatile defender with experience at tackle and end. Good size potential. Naturally large man with room for plenty of additional muscle mass. Good initial quickness off the snap. Flashes the functional upper-body strength to disengage from blockers. Surprising balance for his height. Can break down in space and make the secure tackle.

Tall, athletic lineman who's made a march up draft boards the past six months. Fires off the snap with good first step quickness, plays with good lean, and keeps his feet moving on contact. Consistently gets penetration behind the line of scrimmage, and is a disruptive force. Breaks down well, plays with good knee bend, and possesses a good burst of speed. Shows ability as a pass rusher. Plays with a nasty attitude.

Jarron Gilbert is a freakish athlete with equally freakish measurables.  With a 6'5" frame, Gilbert can keep his weight in the 290 range and continue to be a dominating interior pass-rushing force as a UT in the 4-3 defensive scheme or potentially an edge-rushing 3-4 DE.  Gilbert can add bulk to that frame if he plays on the inside or the outside of a 3-4 and maintain his quickness while becoming an even more difficult force for opposing OL to handle.  Gilbert uses his hand-fighting and quickness off of the ball to catch OL off-guard or push them out of the way, penetrating the pocket regularly; forcing opposing QBs out.  However, Gilbert also has the leg drive, and can play with the lean and pad-level to be effective driving OL into the pocket with a bull-rush.  Everything a 4-3, T2 scheme is looking for from a UT is there with Jarron Gilbert.

Weaknesses: Struggles with leverage inside, and might lack the burst off the snap and flexibility to flank the tackle and close effectively as a defensive end. Too often allows blockers to get into his chest. Inconsistent getting his hands up in the passing lanes. Questionable level of competition. Better raw athlete than football player.

Seems a bit raw in his technique, he must develop more moves with his hands and get off blocks quicker. Lacks bulk on the inside, and out-positioned by blockers. Must improve his playing balance.

Needless to say, Jarron Gilbert played against a decidedly inferior level of competition in most of his college games.  Whether he'll be able to maintain the balance, hands, and burst to catch NFL OL off-guard or man-handle them as he did his opponents in college is yet to be seen.  There is no doubt that Gilbert's greatest attributes are either god-given (size/arms) or a product of spending a lot of time in the weight room.  More work on his technique is likely necessary for him to be fully prepared to take on a starting UT job, though it can be argued that he is already an upgrade over ANY DT on the Colts roster and with his upside extremely high, he would be a difficult player for the Colts to pass up.

PROFESSIONAL SCOUTING REPORT - Dave-Te' Thomas, CBSSports.com

Dave-Te' Thomas Biographical Information

Body Structure: Has a big build, solid midsection, wide waist and hips, broad shoulders, muscular calves and thick thighs. Has good speed, but he needs to improve stamina to prevent running out of gas late in games. To perform as a full-time NFL defensive tackle, his frame will require additional bulk.

Athletic Ability: Has the balance and agility to shoot gaps and make plays in the backfield, showing good lateral pursuit ability. A strong wrap-up tackler who is still working on developing better hand usage, but compensates with excellent playing strength.  An athletic in-line pass rusher who plays a variety of positions. Will generally line up as a left defensive tackle, but has seen action at both end positions. Has covered running backs to the second level, but lacks the foot speed to be effective in that area in the NFL.

Football Sense: Is a quick study, evident by his ability to play any position on the front wall. Has decent instincts, but needs to play with better consistency, as he will disappear for stretches. Appears to have the ability to read and react to the play in front of him. Shows strength in his anchor vs. double teams.  Picks things up quickly in practice and then performs them well in the game.

Character: Coaches call him a good person with no off-field issues. A good team leader, vocal and always has a pleasant attitude. His father, Daren Gilbert, was a star player for Cal State Fullerton and offensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints (1985-88).

Competitiveness: Does show urgency closing when he locates the ball, but his motor runs hot and cold. Perhaps due to questionable stamina, he does disappear for stretches. When the light goes on, he can completely dominate a game, but he really never put it all together until the second half of his senior season. Needs to show more consistency, as he does get washed out when he leaves his chest exposed (usually happens when he tires late in games) and does tend to play at a high pad level, needing to do a better job of sinking his pads.

Work Habits: Is compliant, listens well and takes to hard coaching. Was the defensive captain as a senior, but still needed to develop more maturity, both physically (stamina issues) and mentally (disappears for stretches).

ATHLETIC REPORT GRADE: 6.52

Explosion/Pursuit: Has adequate explosion off the line to cause trouble in the backfield.  Flashes good quickness working in-line and has enough strength to win the battle at the point of attack. Offensive tackles generally have their work cut out for them, as Gilbert can be explosive when he stays low in his pads. He does a much better job of getting to the quarterback shooting the gaps than when having to loop around the corner.

Strength at Point: At defensive tackle, Gilbert might lack ideal bulk, but has a developing frame to add the necessary pounds to play inside. Has long arms and the strength to control his side of the football, can hold ground at the point of attack and clog rush lanes, when he doesn't play high in his stance. Shows good ability to stymie double teams, with a strong base to anchor. Will generally play with leverage, but gets frustrated when his initial move fails. When he recovers, he can be very disruptive.

Use of Hands: While Gilbert has good hand strength, he sometimes fails to recoil and reset quickly, causing him to get tied up too long. Is best when using his hands to contain rather than shed. Leaves himself exposed quite a bit, giving up body surface coming off the snap. His best hand move is his swim move to slip past blocks on the pass rush. He has also been quite successful using his wingspan to break up passes at the line of scrimmage.

Lateral Pursuit/Effort: Has the ability to slide down the line and make plays at the point. Has the balance and change-of-direction agility to work back to cutback lanes, but is better playing between the tackles than trying to get out and make plays along the sideline. Shows good lateral movement down the line of scrimmage and is effective chasing from the back side. Showed great improvement the second half of the 2008 season.

Tackling Ability: A strong tackler, delivers a solid jolt to blockers with his hand swipes and is an effective short-area hitter who delivers a punishing blow and shows power making the wrap-up tackle.

Run Defense: Needs to use his hand punch more often and must do a better job keeping his hands inside his frame.  Has the upper-body strength to impact a ballcarrier with a good thud. Will drop his hands quite a bit, which lets blockers get into his chest. Generally uses his strength effectively to push blockers back through rush lanes. Has the short-area burst to string plays wide. When he maintains a good pad level, it makes it very difficult for defenders to move him off his anchor. On 41 running plays in his immediate area in 2008, he allowed only 39 yards and just four first downs.

Pass Rush: Like Richard Seymour (New England) and John Henderson (Jacksonville), he might be better served as a tackle, as he does a good job of working an offensive guard's edge. Has that short burst needed to penetrate. 

Closing on the QB: In the short area (shooting the gaps at tackle), has a good burst to close and can accelerate in the backfield, but usually does this best vs. a stationary blocker. Does not have the suddenness or blazing speed to take a wide loop coming off the edge and still seal the deal on the QB, making him a better fit inside than at end. Where he excels is getting his big body in the passer's face and using his reach, wing span and leaping ability to deflect quite a few passes at the line of scrimmage.

Instincts/Recognition: Is very athletic, using his size and speed to close down the back side with the strength to control. Has the ability to locate the ball once he gets free from his initial blocker. Is better at the line of scrimmage than when on the move in attempts to locate the ball. Wins the initial battles, but sometimes will shut down when his first move fails.

Compares To: TY WARREN, New England -- Gilbert is more of a 3-4 defensive end rather than an edge rusher in a 4-3 alignment. He seems comfortable shooting the gaps to get to the quarterback rather than trying to loop around the edge. If taken by a team operating from primarily a 4-3 base defense, he will be better off playing inside. He has a lot of potential and a rare-sized frame with an excellent wing span, but it took him more than three seasons to start to produce consistently. It could have been due to him settling in at defensive tackle in 2008.

Jarron Gilbert could slip down to the Colts in the bottom of the second for many of the reasons stated above.  He's more effective against stationary blockers and slipping the gaps as a pass rusher than he is at coming off of the edge.  His greatest production in college came after he settled in as the LDT and started to become comfortable with the position and the techniques he needed to polish to be effective.  As a 3-4 DE, Gilbert would have to essentially "start over" in learning techniques and his assignments.  Accordingly, he's a bit of an "unknown" for those teams converting to a 3-4 in the DE role.  It would seem his size, strength, experience and production all point to him being a VERY effective UT in a 4-3 defensive scheme.  If the Colts had a Ty Warren/Richard Seymour/John Henderson on the interior of their DL, the defense would be an entirely different animal and Freeney/Mathis would destroy opposing QBs.  That Gilbert is a quick study, has no character issues, and is a soft-spoken leader makes him even more attractive as a future Colt.

ANOTHER SCOUTING REPORT - MockingtheDraft.com
AND ANOTHER - FFToolbox.com

Fili Moala - USC

Photo
2008 Season Highlights
Moala Blocked FG
Draft Vignette
Combine Video

6'4", 305 lbs.
5.07 40 Yard Dash, 30.5 Vertical Jump, 25 Bench Reps

SENIOR SEASONS STATS:
30 Tackles, 14 Assists, 10 TFL, 4.5 Sacks, 1 FR, 1 Blocked Pass, 1 QB Hurry, 2 BK

INJURIES:
2004 - As a redshirt freshman, Moala sprained his right hand and shoulder during fall practice, missing the first 4 games.
2009 - Suffered a groin pull at the combine.

ANALYSIS:

NFLDraftScout.com, MockingtheDraft.com

Strengths: Rare size for the position with the frame to add mass.  Measures in at nearly 300 pounds, but considering his height, Moala almost has a lanky build.  Good initial quickness off the snap.  Powerful hands to slap away the offensive linemen trying to control him.  Quick to recognize the play and work his way toward the action.  Good size and strength to collapse the interior running lanes.  High-effort player who will pursue laterally and down the field.  Durable performer who has seen starting action every year of his career.  Good bloodlines. Cousin, Haloti Ngata, was a first-round pick and is a standout defensive lineman with the Baltimore Ravens.

Uses his size to collapse running lanes between the tackles. Can handle double teams. Great recognition skills, which come from being a career starter on the defensive line. Knows where the ball is going and is quick to react. A four-year starter. Solid wrap-up tackler. Has the strength to hold on to finish off tackles. Frame is big enough to easily at 10-15 pounds of mass. Could play inside in a 4-3 or end in a 3-4.

Watching the tape, looking at the measurables, and reading the scouting reports on Fili Moala will get any Colts fan excited.  Moala can slip gaps to penetrate the pocket, has the ability to push the pocket with good leverage/bull rushing abilities (not too different from Peria Jerry), and can control gaps against the run.  Take a look at the tape and see him take on a double-team, get pushed no more than a couple of yards backward before pushing back on the two OL he's facing, maintaining the awareness to find the ball and attack it.  The reason that play is stopped for 2-3 yards only is because Moala stood his ground against the double-team.  A penetrating, pocket pushing, run stuffing DT sounds awfully good late in the 2nd Round.

Weaknesses: Essentially a one-trick pony, as Moala is simply too slow of foot to create much of a pass rush.  Reasonable short-area quickness, but lacks closing speed and is too stiff to break down and make tackles in space.  Lacks a variety of pass-rush moves and relies on his initial quickness off the snap and a simple bull-rush to pressure the passer.  Signed with USC out of high school, but failed to qualify academically and spent a year at Cypress Junior College (California), though he didn't play football there.  Redshirted at USC in 2004 and will be 24 years old by the time he suits up for an NFL team.  Arrested in March 2008 for resisting and obstructing an officer after a fight at a Newport Beach bar was broken up by police. No charges were filed.

Plays too upright and loses leverage. Needs to use his hands better to shed blocks. Has only average quickness, particularly against the pass. Decent off the snap, but he doesn't have the speed to chase down a quarterback or running back. For a player of his build, Moala doesn't have as much strength as you'd expect, but it's still good enough to hold up pretty well against the run. Play was inconsistent during his senior year.

Moala's character concerns remind me too much of the "BUT I PLAY FOR THE COLTS!" incident.  However, being male and understanding the male psyche when the adrenaline starts pumping during a fight, particularly a bar fight, I'm not going to make it a HUGE deal right out of the box.  While it is suggested that Moala doesn't have the quickness or burst off the line to consistently generate a pass rush, the tape suggests that he does play with a good pad level and generates enough push and/or bull rush to force the QB back in the pocket, which is just what the Colts want from their NT.  That he excels in defending the run is also a bright side, one-trick pony or otherwise.  With a frame that could get bigger and time to develop, I see Moala's play-style becoming Booger McFarland-esque as a NT.

SENIOR BOWL PRACTICE RECAP - TFYDraft.com

Monday Practice Notes: Showed good quickness and used his hands well in getting off blocks, was complimented on his hips and pass rush abilities by a Jacksonville Jags staff member. 

Tuesday Practice Notes: Once again proved proficient in using his hands well to swat those of his opponent. Played well throughout the day, both against the run and pass, but showed a tendency stand straight up off the snap and give up his chest.

Wednesday Practice Notes: Really good day for the USC product. Moala received praise by his coach on multiple occasions throughout practice. Though he still gave up his chest once or twice to the offensive lineman, he was really getting off blocks against the run. His pass rush was inconsistent, but he was able to get a few nice moves to beat his opponent.

Thursday Practice Notes:  None.

Analysis: Getting better with each day, Moala became a favorite of his North coaching staff. His one area of concern will continue to be playing a little high and giving up his chest. Otherwise, he was able to use his hands very well, hold up solidly against the run, and even display an effective interior pass rush. Another USC product who could likely become a high round selection.

Against the best competition in college football, Moala did well and showed the hand-fighting ability to get off of blocks and penetrate.  If he continues to keep his pad level down, develop as a hand-fighter, shoot gaps and play stout against the run, Moala has a lot of upside as a NT in a 4-3 defense.

ANOTHER SCOUTING REPORT - WalterFootball.com
AND ANOTHER - FFToolbox.com

Comparison:

Interestingly enough, this comparison resembles (not exactly) the Ziggy v. Jerry YOU DECIDE in Round 1.  One player, Gilbert, excels more as a pass rusher, penetrates by shooting gaps consistently, and can wreak havoc in the backfield using his speed and athleticism.  The other player, Moala, also shows good speed off the line and can shoot gaps but is most impressive bull-rushing and closing the pocket, like Jerry.  If we miss out on either of the two aforementioned players in round 1, we may be facing a similar decision in Round 2 for players just under their abilities.  So, do you want the speedy pass-rushing Gilbert brings to the UT position or the gap closing, bull-rushing, run stuffing element Moala brings to the table?

YOU DECIDE