Riley Moss selected by Denver in the NFL Draft
There was a time in the recruiting process where Riley Moss was not going to be a Hawkeye. Iowa had not offered and he verbally committed to North Dakota State. Then the Hawkeyes came around and offered him a grayshirt opportunity to play safety at Iowa.
Of course, those plans changed as the 6-foot-1 defensive back didn’t end up grayshirting. In fact, he didn’t end up redshirting. Moss came back for an extra year and it paid off on Friday night when he was picked by the Denver Broncos with the 20th pick in the third round of the NFL Draft.
Moss is the 85th Iowa player drafted by an NFL team in the Ferentz era. This marks the 18th defensive back that has been drafted in the Ferentz era and a cornerback or safety has been drafted in six of the last seven years.
It was a pretty remarkable rise for Moss from late grayshirt to starting five games at a true freshman at Iowa. He had a pair of interceptions against Minnesota in his first year. He had 24 tackles and also broke up five passes in his freshman year.
Then in his sophomore season, Moss played in nine games with a pair of starts. He battled injury issues during the season, but still had a pair of interceptions that year. In the 2020 Covid shortened season, Moss started all eight games and 43 tackles along with a pair of interceptions, returning one for a score.
In 2021, Moss started 11 of Iowa’s 14 games. He had 39 tackles and picked off four passes, returning two for touchdowns. He was named a first team All American by The Sporting News and second team by FWAA and Phil Steele. He was the Big Ten defensive back of the year and a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.
After weighing a move to the NFL, Moss returned and had a strong season in 2022. He started all 13 games and had 31 tackles. He had only one interception, but he broke up 12 passes during the year. For his effort, Moss was named first team All Big Ten this past season.
