2019 Jets UDFA Jalin Moore RB Appalachian State

Jalin Moore 5’ 10” 212 lbs RB Appalachian State #25

Jalin Moore is a tough efficient runner who was the linchpin of the Appalachian State offense. His 3,570 rushing yard and 33 TDs had him penciled in as a mid round 2019 Draft selection until October 9 when he dislocated and fractured his ankle against Arkansas State. He is a hard working blue collar type of person who was not widely recruited out of high school so he is used to proving himself to doubters. He was known to be hard on himself, the kind of player who likes to test his limitations, but his injury made him adjust his expectations.

He rehabbed hard, but he could not take part in the physical portion of the Combine. “I had to be open and honest about how I feel. Not try to be tough. They built the workouts around how I felt,” Moore described. “I got kind of iffy with it before the Combine. Where I got timid (because) it hurt, and I said, ‘Let’s go less hard today.’ After the Combine, it was all go. Time is running out.”

His ankle did not allow him to run at the Combine or his pro day, but that didn’t mean he stopped working hard. Moore stayed in great physical shape. He is known as a workout fanatic.

Moore is a realist about his chances in the NFL and expects no sympathies from teams as he tries to come back from his injury. “The NFL is not like college. They don’t care.” He was able to run drills and pass patterns at his pro day.

He just couldn’t put the strain on his ankle of running a hard 40 yard dash. The time would not have been indicative of his true speed anyway because he had not really run hard for over six months. He was only cleared to run just before the Combine. The coaches asked him about how he felt in the time he last carried a football in a game. “They wanted to know how I’m attacking it. Some coaches wanted to know how I’m doing mentally,” Moore said. “Hopefully, those questions will slim down now that they’ve seen me move.” “One of the coaches said he thought I’d be more limpy,” Moore recalled.

Coaches naturally assumed there would be a lack of suddenness because the injury was so severe, the kind where announcers tell people if they are squeamish not to watch the replay. He dug down into his psyche to find strength. “Not let it break me,” Moore said of the ensuing months. “I was used to seeing injuries like that on TV (where you think), ‘That’s crazy stuff! I just hope he comes back from that!’ Now I’m that person, where other people were praying for me.”

Moore is not a shake and move, make you miss type of runner. He is solid with decent speed and good contact balance with impressive strength for his size. He has been effective when he was the feature back; he was the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year in 2016. That year he had over 230 carries for over 1,400 yards and 10 TDs. This is just an off tackle run against Penn State. He gets through the hole and breaks a tackle.

This is a typical Moore run. He takes what is there and gets a little more. He does have some long runs in his career. He averaged 6.1 yards a carry over 582 attempts so he does have big play potential. Those types of runs are few and far between in the NFL for a player who is not a speed back. He has the ability to take a hard 4 yard run, turn it into a 6 or 7 yard run.

Here is a long 45 yard TD run where he shows some of his skill set. First, this is a read option with a wishbone component with the flanker acting as the pitch man. It effectively pulls up the safety to the right side of the defense which lightens the box. Moore shows good vision as he sees the hole open to his right, and he explodes through the opening.

He shows adequate vision to run the off the WR’s block. Though he gets hit at the 5 yard line he maintains balance and has the power to drag his man into the end zone. Moore did not run a 40 because of his injury, and he was rumored to has 4.40 speed which I think is highly suspect. He has some quickness and good power, but I think he runs in the 4.60 to 4.65 range. Even that may be a little generous.

Moore’s power does not just show up when he is running the ball. He is well-versed in pass protection, and I have seen him stop numerous free runners. He is not afraid to stick his nose into the fray, and he show good vision to see rushers who come free.

This is a good example of his pass pro strengths. This is a play action pass, and Moore is required to press to hole after the fake to hold the LBs. He cuts his fake short when he sees a free onrushing LB off the edge. He does two things well here. First he doesn’t allow the LB to attack him. He attacks the LB and gets low with good leverage so the LB doesn’t just bowl him over. He is able to kick the LB outside and away from his QB. The block was not earth shattering, but it got the job done. Good job.

Moore is not considered a receiving threat because he had only 23 receptions in his career. but that was more from game script than lack of talent. I saw him drop only 1 pass in all the games I watched. Although he never ran actual routes downfield, he was very efficient with over a 10 yard average per catch.

This is just a flare out of the backfield, and you can see his running style after the catch. He is not a make you miss kind of runner, but he breaks a tackle, maintains good balance, and gets a nice gain on the little swing pass.

Here he is again in the same game against Penn State. He makes a nice catch away from his body then uses a nice spin move to break a tackle of a corner who had him dead to rights.

He is then hit by two more defenders but continues forward. It is the fourth defender who puts a stop to his forward momentum. Moore always falls forward for extra yards and has the strength to do so even when wrapped up by multiple defenders.

Here he does what he always does. He keeps moving forward on a up the middle ISO play with an H-back as a lead blocker. He shows good vision to avoid the DT at the line then cuts back to his left in a tight space to get free.

Moore is you prototypical North-South runner who has a little shake to him but is always moving towards the opponent’s goal line. He cuts back after breaking a few arm tackles and makes #25 in blue whiff on the tackle. He once again doesn’t try and bounce it outside , continuing forward where it takes three defenders to finally corral him.

This play again shows you the skill set that Moore has. He is a impressively powerful player for his size who does not have great speed but will break tackles and has great contact balance. He is rarely taken down by the first tackler.

There are less than two minutes left in a tie game with a play designed to cut back across the formation. Moore is able to break two hard tackles, maintain his balance at the ten, and race down the sideline for a 21 yard TD and the lead.

Moore is not a hard guy to scout. He is not overly fast, and he isn’t going to make you miss in the hole with a jump step. He will not run you over or weave across the field like a punt returner. What he will do is use his vision to find a hole and run through arm tackle like tissue paper. If you want to tackle him you better bring a friend because Moore is not going down easy and when he does he will always be going forward.

He is also a tough kid who went through adversity and kept fighting to come back, because it wasn’t a guarantee we was going to make it back. He had a great frame of mind and stayed strong this in his beliefs.

“This isn’t the last time something bad will happen.” “I’ve still got that dog in me.”

The good thing about Moore is you know what you are going to get from him, and he is better in the pass game than he is given credit for. He is also great in pass protection so he would make a nice third down back. He would be a solid backup who would be the most powerful back in the Jets arsenal. He is an ideal tough outside zone runner who can break a tackle at the LOS and break into the clear for a nice gain.

The bad thing about Moore is he has little splash play ability, and he never has played on special teams. He would have to learn everything from scratch.

“Nothing worth having comes easy,” said Jalin Moore.

My guess is that if Moore is truly back from his injury he will make it to the final cuts and be a candidate for the practice squad. He would be a quality insurance policy in case of injury to one of our backs. He has a great frame of mind and appears to be the kind of voice you want in your locker room.

What do you think?