The New York Jets drafted former Alabama safety Malachi Moore in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL draft. Today we break Moore down in detail.
The 23-year old Moore is listed at 5’11” and 196 pounds. He was a second-team all-American in 2024. He had 214 tackles, 2.5 sacks and six interceptions in 64 games with the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Background
Moore was a four-star high school recruit who had four interceptions in his final season and earned a scholarship at Alabama, where he won a starting role in his freshman season in 2020.
He was named to the all-SEC freshman team and the all-SEC second team after starting the first 11 games of the year and recording 44 tackles, six passes defensed and three interceptions. He also returned a fumble for a touchdown. However, he missed the postseason due to injury.
In 2021, Moore started nine games, but he was in a rotational role as he finished the season with 17 tackles and one interception.
Ahead of the 2022 season, he was named as a preseason third team all-American by Pro Football Focus, but ended up starting just one game. He had 31 tackles and the first 1.5 sacks of his career.
In 2023, he was a full-time starter and had a productive year with 52 tackles and a career-best five tackles for loss.
2024 was his best season, as he earned second team all-American and first team all-SEC honors by racking up 70 tackles, eight pass breakups, two interceptions and a sack.
Moore was invited to the NFL scouting combine but did not work out due to injury. The Jets traded up to select him with the last pick of the fourth round in April’s draft.
Let’s move on to some more in-depth analysis of what Moore brings to the table as a player, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Moore is a little undersized for the safety position with very short arms. In fact, the only safety with shorter arms in combine history to become a starting safety at the NFL level has been Geno Stone.
He ran a solid 4.57 in the 40-yard dash and posted 15 bench press reps at his pro day, but didn’t do the agility drills. His explosiveness numbers were excellent.
Usage
Moore has played in the box, in the slot and as a deep safety, but his role evolved over the course of his career.
In his freshman season, the majority of his reps were in the slot with some in the box and none as a deep safety. However, his final season saw him mostly playing as a deep safety.
Coverage skills
Moore played closer to the line of scrimmage until last season. The move into a deeper role was reflected in fewer targets and vastly improved coverage numbers. He entered the 2024 season having given up a completion on 70 percent of his targets, but reduced that all the way down to 43 percent last year, as he gave up just 11 yards per game.
For his career as a whole, he gave up 10 touchdowns and a lot of big plays, occasionally being overmatched when isolated against a speedy receiver.
However, he looks good in off coverage, with a good ability to latch on in coverage and anticipate route breaks.
As a deep safety he did a solid job of patrolling center field, picking off a few errant passes and doing a solid job of ranging across the field in coverage support.
Ball skills
Moore put up solid on-ball numbers in college with six career interceptions and 25 pass breakups. He displays good range and timing in center field and tracks deep throws well.
Closer to the line of scrimmage, he has good awareness and positional sense and the ability to jump routes and contest throws.
Tackling
Moore is a big hitter with good closing speed and a knack for knocking or stripping the ball loose. He had five forced fumbles in his career.
His tackle efficiency was a minor concern heading into the 2024 season as he had just missed a career-high nine tackles in 2023. However, he showed a dramatic improvement last year, as he was fifth best among power five safeties who played over half the defensive snaps in terms of tackle efficiency.
Run defense
Moore’s lack of size could be detrimental against the run but he shows some willingness to take on blocks and set the edge. His technique and strength when trying to shed blocks could do with some work, but he plays with good discipline.
Despite playing deeper, his production against the run in 2024 was still solid as he had 32 tackles and the same number of stops (nine) as in his freshman year.
Physicality
Despite a lack of size, Moore brings competitiveness and works hard to get ball carriers on the ground when he wraps them up. As noted, he’s a big hitter.
He has played press coverage at times but only had 12 penalties in his career, with only one of his four penalties last season for pass interference and none for illegal contact or defensive holding.
Blitzing
Moore has plenty of experience as a blitzer and was credited with 2.5 sacks and a decent pressure rate during his college career. He brings burst and timing off the edge.
He can also be effective in situations where he is tasked with spying the quarterback to prevent him from escaping the pocket and converting first downs.
Moore also batted two passes down at the line while rushing the quarterback.
Special teams
Moore has plenty of special teams experience with his best season coming in 2022 when he had five special teams tackles.
He has played in kickoff coverage, as a blocker on the kickoff return unit and on the punt protection unit. In addition, he’s both rushed punts and played the vice role on the punt return unit and was on the kick block unit for the past two seasons.
He also had this special teams touchdown on a blocked punt.
Instincts/Intelligence
Moore displays excellent on-field instincts, regularly blowing up plays in the flat by reading his keys or making an immediate reaction.
He was caught out of position on this play, though, leading to a crucial touchdown on fourth down.
The fact he has played multiple defensive roles and positions should serve Moore well in this area and speaks to his scheme familiarity.
Attitude
Moore is an incredibly intense and high energy player and one of the first things that stands out on film is how he gets fired up and flexes after virtually every play he makes.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with that but it’s likely to make him unpopular with opposing fans, and could cause Jets fans to lose patience with him if he carries this demeanor while also making occasional mistakes.
Something he’ll need to watch is that he doesn’t cross the line in terms of taunting while celebrating over an opponent or jawing with them at the end of a play. There were a few plays he made last season where that could have led to a flag and his on-field discipline has been lacking at times, with two personal fouls and an unsportsmanlike penalty last year alone.
One incident in particular gave cause for concern at the end of the Crimson Tide’s upset loss to Vanderbilt last season.
Moore - who had already been accused of a dirty hit on the opposing quarterback’s head at the end of a play - threw what can only really be described as a tantrum at the end of the game, yelling at teammates, throwing his mouthguard and then petulantly kicking the ball down the field after the officials tried to spot it for the victory formation. Perhaps even more worryingly, he then refused to leave the game as the coaches tried to sub him out.
Moore was a captain for the past two years, which points to the fact that he was known for having good character and leadership. However, the fact that this incident took place while Moore was a captain and fifth-year senior arguably makes it even worse.
To his credit, Moore apparently took ownership of the incident and vowed that he had learned from it and that it wouldn’t happen again. The coaches also threw their support behind him, saying they had dealt with it behind the scenes and decided not to suspend him because he “went above and beyond” to atone for his behavior and had been a critical piece for them during the rest of his career.
Hopefully that was an aberration and a learning experience for him. It would surely have been something every team asked him to justify at the combine so the Jets were presumably satisfied with his explanation.
He showed further signs of good character by being named a member of the SEC Community Service Team while at Alabama.
Injuries
Moore showed some toughness to play through some injuries while at Alabama but his durability may be a concern because he’s undersized.
In 2024, he missed the team’s bowl game as he went for surgery on a sports hernia, which had reportedly bothered him all year. He had been cleared in time for the scouting combine but opted to work out at his pro day instead to give it extra time to heal.
2023 saw him missing one game and knocked out of two others as he had a twisted ankle and he also had a concussion and a back injury while at Alabama. The latter ended his freshman season prematurely, causing him to miss the postseason.
Scheme Fit
It’s notable that Moore was a teammate of Brian Branch, who was a key leader for head coach Aaron Glenn’s Lions defense and reportedly put in a good word for Moore when Glenn asked him for a reference.
It will be interesting to see what kind of plan the Jets have for Moore. Unlike Michael Carter II, who was also an undersized college safety with short arms, Moore lacks the speed and athleticism to convert to a full-time cornerback role.
Athletically, Moore actually profiles more similarly to Branch, but there is a size difference of two inches and 20+ pounds.
The fact that he falls between those two players could indicate he’s a good schematic fit for the defense which Glenn is using the existing Jets personnel to create alongside defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.
Moore was also a teammate of current Jets defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis while at Alabama.
Conclusions
Moore is a player who will bring intensity and energy, having displayed plenty of playmaking ability in college. He’s also demonstrated versatility and been productive in an NFL-style defense against good opposition.
His size and durability could be concerning, and it’s clear he is a fiery player who may need to work at keeping his emotions under control. Without these issues, Moore’s film would probably have been good enough for him to warrant being a top-50 selection, so the Jets could end up with a bargain if he allays those fears.