Looking at the NFL Draft Prospects

Scott Levine
Pi Kappa Phi

When the NFL draft comes around April 28th, many fans will be proud to hear analysts talking about not one, but two UCLA defenders as possible first round picks.  Those players are Akeem Ayers and Rahim Moore who are both ranked second at their position by Draftcountdown.com.  Moore is also ranked first by ESPN.  How a defense with so much talent went so badly is another story, but here I will dissect the two former UCLA players who we should see playing on Sundays this year.

Akeem Ayers

Akeem decided to declare for the NFL draft after his junior year.  Akeem was a beast.  Plain and simple.  He followed up an impressive redshirt freshmen year with an electric sophomore season where he had six sacks, four interceptions and 14.5 TKL.  His interception against Oregon was one of the greatest displays of athleticism I have ever seen, and his interception against Temple was equally impressive.  He also displayed an uncanny knack for stripping the ball loose on sacks.  As for last season, things seem to get off on the same foot.  He was the lone bright spot during the Stanford shellacking as he was seemingly all over the field making tackles when no one else could.  However, after that game, his production fell.  I attribute this to teams focusing on him, as they realized there were few other players on the UCLA team who could hurt them.  While there was a plethora of young talent on the roster, Ayers was the only true disruptive force, and when teams took him out of the game, all the Bruins defense could do was whimper.

So where does Akeem fit in the NFL?  Many forecast him to be a first round pick as a 4-3 DE or 3-4 OLB where he could put his freakish athleticism to use as a pass rusher.  However, his combine numbers were disappointing as he failed to top 4.8 at the forty and tied for last in bench presses of all the linebackers.  Everyone knows what is tested at the combine.  While it certainly isn’t the only measure for NFL greatness, one must prepare and do well, and his numbers unfortunately showed a lack of preparation in my mind.  Another thing teams may come to be disappointed by is his coverage abilities.  Scouts have raved about this as ESPN says, “Shows good overall awareness in coverage,” however this may be based more on his interception totals than his game play.  If one was to go back and watch all of Ayers’ games, most of his interceptions come off freakish athletic plays like the ones against Temple and Oregon rather than coverage interceptions.

Regardless, I would vote for Ayers to thrive in the NFL.  He is a playmaker.  Unfortunately, Ayers had to suffer through years of Chuck Bullough and one could only imagine his abilities if he was actually –well-coached.  Ayers does need to put on weight and learn how to take on blockers better, but with an NFL weight training program, and an NFL defensive coordinator, he should be making plays on Sunday in no time.

Rahim Moore

To me, Rahim is on the opposite side of the spectrum.  Yes, he was a great college football player…for one year.  Yes, he led the NCAA in interceptions…for one year.  Yes, he was a highly regarded recruit who continued to impress.  However, I believe he is a player who looks great on paper, but fails to back it up when you watch him play.

During his record setting sophomore campaign where he tallied 10 interceptions, I often just felt that Rahim was always at the right place at the right time.  Given, that is pretty much what decides a good safety: the ability to be at the right place at the right time, but too often he seemed to be there out of sheer luck rather than skill.  In addition, many of his interceptions came off tipped passes where he was not even the one to make the plays.  On top of it all, Rahim can’t tackle.  ESPN says, “Doesn't hesitate as a tackler. He closes in a hurry and will hog-tie ball carriers around the ankles.”  But I think they missed the numerous times this year where Bruin fans have groaned when a player plows through a Rahim arm tackle, or he misses the ball carrier altogether by taking a bad route.

The poor play on the field justified his junior campaign where he merely tallied one interception.  Scouts and Moore have mumbled excuses such as, “QBs stayed away from me,” but I’m not buying it.  ESPN heaped the praise on Moore saying, “quick feet,” “hard worker” and “models his game after Ed Reed’s,” but I think they just have not seen him enough.  Moore was able to rely on the crutch that is Alterraun Verner his sophomore year.  His junior year?  Moore simply wasn’t a great player.  I question his work ethic as well as he too put up position-wide low number on the bench press.

There were not many bright spots in the football season this year.  After the Texas victory, the team tumbled to a 4-8 finish.  One of the many dull spots was the defense as it finished no. 86 in the nation in points against.  The staggering defense eventually led to the dismissal of two-year defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough.    At the end of the day, UCLA defense stunk it up last year.  A team with two first round talent players should never stink it up, even with the worst coaching staff in the world.  Therefore, it would seem obvious that one or both of the supposed first round talents are not legit.  In this case, teams should be aware of Moore.  While it is entirely possible that he fits in the perfect system and thrives, his chances for success are way lower than Ayers.