Last year, Devin Moore won the Colts kick returning duties after a competitive battle in training camp and pre-season with fellow rookies Brandon James and Ray Fisher. Fisher both Fisher and James were cut just prior to the 53-man cutdown.
Moore, with his 5'9, 190 pound frame, lasted just one month.
The Indianapolis native and Cardinal Ritter high school football star suffered a chilling injury during the Colts Week Four loss to the Jaguars. The injury was a 'brachial plexus injury,' which the Mayo Clinic defines as an injury to the bundle of nerves that send signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm, and hands.
I'll be honest and say that, after hearing that injury, I honestly didn't think Devin Moore would play football again.
However, during this lockout ruled offseason, Moore has seemingly gotten healthy. He's also added about ten pounds (hopefully, of muscle) in an effort to bulk up. The extra weight could do him some good in the tackling department.
These players hitting Moore on kick returns often weigh more than 200 pounds, and they are coming at him with a full head of steam. At 190 pounds and coming off what sounds like a spinal injury, I don't think Moore had much of a future in the NFL. At 200 pounds, that might help a bit.
"I'm looking to show why they kept me in the beginning and that I've grown," said Moore, who averaged 21.4 yards on 12 kickoff returns. "I want to be that hometown Colt again, the guy everybody can cheer for."
Moore assures he is healthy and is bulking up 10 pounds to 200 so he can be a stronger blocker.
"I can still run and be fast, maintain my agility and hit some of those bigger linebackers and be able to hold them off," he said.
Moore told the Indianapolis Star that he has been working out during the lockout with Peyton Manning. Likely, these workouts happened before Peyton had his shoulder surgery.
It will be interesting to see if Moore continues developing next year. His position coach in 2010, Gene Huey, was let go and replaced by an unknown college assistant named David Walker. Huey, like Moore, is a Wyoming alum. Walker is known more for coaching 'power backs' like LeSean McCoy at Pitt.