The Huskies sure could use Sio Moore. The Raiders linebacker was a third-round pick in April 2013 after a distinguish career at UConn. And now, after a solid rookie season, others around the league are beginning to take notice of Moore's abilities.
CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco listed Moore as one of his "Top 25 players to watch in 2014."
"He impressed as a rookie last season on a bad team with 49 tackles and 4 1/2 sacks," Prisco wrote this week. "He played the strong side last season, but will likely play on the weak side this season with the addition of Khalil Mack. That should give him a chance to really show off his speed."
With Mack's arrival, Moore could be switching positions, something he did at UConn, too.
"I did this in college," Moore said recently, via Raiders.com. "I started out as a WILL (weak-side backer), and then moved to SAM, where the SAM was an outside linebacker and a down free safety," Moore said. "Moving from SAM to WILL here again, it’s nothing that’s abnormal. I just try to use my versatility and continue to show our coaches and my teammates that I can do anything on the field and I want to continue to work at it, no matter what position.”
Moore also talked about how he's had to adjust to the NFL after a standout college career.
“The biggest thing that I learned is that as good as I want to be at football is as good as I’m going to be at life," he said. "It’s as responsible as I’m going to be off the field. As good as I’m going to take care of my home that I live in. As good as I’m going to treat my family, my teammates, the people around me, as much time and effort as I put into myself, it’s going to correlate to how I do on the field.
"If I take the time out to make sure I’m on top of everything in a detailed manner, when it comes to football, I’m going to approach football in a detailed manner and do the same thing, because it’s going to become a cycle. It’s going to become what’s the norm. When you look at great players, that’s how they stay great for so long, because of the consistency to be able to do the right things for an extended period of time.”
