Riley Moss, Kaevon Merriweather likely to add to Iowa’s track record of DBs reaching NFL level

IOWA CITY — Former Iowa safety Kaevon Merriweather’s pitch to pro football teams includes his alma mater’s track record of producing NFL defensive backs.

“We’ve seen throughout the past couple of years the type of caliber players that Iowa produces,” Merriweather said after the Hawkeyes’ pro day last month.

The numbers support Merriweather’s case.

More defensive backs have been drafted in the last 10 years from Iowa than any other Big Ten West team.

Defensive coordinator Phil Parker has led the secondary to those results despite not having many highly touted recruits. None of the defensive backs drafted had four- or five-star recruiting ratings from 247Sports.

“Going to Iowa was definitely a cheat code,” NFL safety Micah Hyde said last year on the Pat McAfee Show. “They get you ready for the NFL.”

Hyde, Dane Belton, Michael Ojemudia, Geno Stone, Amani Hooker, Josh Jackson and Desmond King round out the list of Iowa defensive backs drafted since 2013.

Iowa’s seven defensive backs drafted in the last 10 years outnumber offensive linemen (six), defensive linemen (six), tight ends (four) and linebackers (four).

As many Iowa defensive backs have been drafted as quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends combined since 2013.

Riley Moss and Merriweather are expected to become the latest prospects from Parker’s position room to also find an NFL home this week as the draft kicks off Thursday.

(Ex-Hawkeye Julius Brents, who transferred to Kansas State after the 2020 season, also is expected to be drafted.)

CBS Sports’ draft experts ranked Merriweather as the 113th-best prospect on Tuesday. Pro Football Focus projected Merriweather to be taken with the 191st overall pick in its seven-round mock draft this week.

Some seven-round mock drafts, including those from ESPN analysts Matt Miller and Jordan Reid, do not include the Iowa safety, though. Merriweather’s combine invitation was a good sign, but the combine had 319 prospects versus 259 picks in the NFL Draft.

There is little doubt among draft experts about whether Moss will be drafted. It’s just a matter of where he goes.

Earlier this month, ESPN’s Todd McShay projected Moss to go 59th to the Buffalo Bills. Miller had him going 86th to the Baltimore Ravens.

PFF, on the other hand, slotted Moss at 136th overall — the first pick of the fifth round — to the Chicago Bears.

Some draft prognosticators have suggested Moss would be a best fit in a zone scheme because of a possible shortcoming in speed.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, for example, said Moss “has CB3/4 potential in a zone-based defense” in the cornerback’s NFL.com profile.

“An instinctive cornerback with good size and play strength, Moss will need to prove he has the speed and durability needed for the next level,” Zierlein wrote.

Others have refuted that notion, including Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy in a recent episode of The Gazette’s Hawk Off the Press podcast.

“Why is he a zone corner?” Nagy said. “Usually you say guys are zone corners because they can’t run. Well, we all know that’s not the case with Riley.”

Moss ran a 4.45-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine last month, which was tied for 12th out of 29 cornerbacks in Indianapolis.

“I’m surprised he didn’t time in the 4.3s at Indy, and I was surprised he didn’t go for it and try to get that time at pro day, Nagy said.

The Senior Bowl uses real-time GPS chips from Zebra Technologies to measure players’ real-time speed. It is a “good apples-to-apples comparison,” Nagy said, because all 32 NFL teams use the technology.

“His Zebra stuff was significantly faster than a lot of guys from last year’s game that did run 4.3s in Indy,” Nagy said.

The draft forecasts aside, Merriweather is not the only one touting Iowa’s reputation at the next level.

“They come down here ready,” Nagy said generally of prospects from Kirk Ferentz’s program. “They’re products of that Iowa system. They’re mature. They kind of handle this like a business trip.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com