The Arizona Cardinals have been in contact with scores of NFL draft prospects. They have needs on the defensive line. One player they have been in contact with multiple times is Boise State defensive lineman David Moa.
He will be a late Day 3 pick or possibly a rookie free agent.
The Cardinals first spoke with him at the Hula Bowl and also has been in contact with him in the last couple of weeks, letting him know he “one of the guys they’re talking about,” Moa told me in an interview this week.
He has also had contact with the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens.
Moa spent six years at Boise State. He is 6-foot-3 and nearly 300 pounds. He got an extra season after applying for a medical redshirt. He suffered an Achilles injury in 2018 that caused him to lose almost his entire senior year.
His best season was in 2016 as a redshirt sophomore. He earned first-team All-Mountain West honors with 30 tackles, 8.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.
He played as an undersized nose tackle that season.
“At that time, our nose tackle had transferred to the University of Arizona, so the nose tackle position was open and that was when they threw me in there,” he told me. “Going into the season, I weighed about 265. I just think that not a lot of teams expected my speed at the nose tackle position. It’s definitely what I used the most.”
After that season, he played more 3-technique. In 2017 and 2019, he combined for two sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
He believes he has a trait that sets him apart from others in the draft.
“One thing I do have that I think separates me from some of the defensive tackles in this year’s draft is that 4th-and-1 mentality,” he said. “No team in the nation was put in as many 4th-and-1 situations, and we had the most 4th-and-1 stops. I believe that’s something I have and I know some teams can use that mentality. It doesn’t matter if it’s 1st-and-10 or 3rd-and-12, I’m always going to have that mentality to get things done and do my job the best I can do.”
Coming back for a sixth season, he was named a team captain and earned the moniker “Papa Moa” because of his age and experience. He was a leader on the team.
“They used to have me host recruits,” he said. “My favorite thing was looking at a recruit’s face when I told him what year I came in.”
He is fully recovered from his Achilles tear from 2018. He believes he has the versatility to play “all across the line.”
He believes he has a chance to be drafted as high as the sixth round but where he is drafted doesn’t matter to him as long as he can get a “foot in the door.”
The Cardinals have one pick each in the sixth and seventh rounds. He could be a name that gets called or even among the roughly 18 undrafted free agents the Cardinals sign after the draft.
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Ep. 264
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Ep. 263
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