Denver Broncos draft Iowa cornerback Riley Moss in third round with 83rd overall pick

IOWA CITY — The Denver Broncos have selected Iowa cornerback Riley Moss with the 83rd overall pick in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft on Friday night.

Moss was the 11th cornerback selected in a class with a relatively deep group of cornerbacks.

Moss, the 2021 Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year, had 11 career interceptions in 54 games with the Hawkeyes. He was a first-team All-American in 2021 and 2022.

Opposing quarterbacks completed 47.7 percent of passes against Moss last year, according to Pro Football Focus, and had a career-high 12 pass deflections.

Moss has wildly surpassed outside expectations since arriving at Iowa as a two-star recruit. He was 247Sports’ 344th-best cornerback of the 2018 recruiting class.

Moss will join a Denver defense that ranked seventh in the NFL in yards allowed per game last year. He is expected to remain at cornerback at the NFL level.

“There was a clear vision for him, and it’s corner,” Denver head coach Sean Payton told reporters in Denver on Friday.

The Iowa standout will likely be competing with Damarri Mathis, a fourth-rounder in the 2022 draft, for a starting spot at cornerback opposite of Pat Surtain II.

Denver gave up the 108th pick and its 2024 third-round pick to trade up to select Moss with the 83rd pick.

“We just didn’t want to lose those players,” Denver general manager George Paton said of Moss and the Broncos’ other third-round selection, Marvin Mims Jr.

The Ankeny native is the fourth Hawkeye drafted this year, following Lukas Van Ness (13th), Jack Campbell (18th) and Sam LaPorta (34th). It marks the first time since 2010 that Iowa has had four players drafted in the first three rounds.

Iowa has now had at least one defensive back drafted in six of the last seven years.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com