Just this past December, before Buffalo Bills linebacker Arthur Moats had even wrapped up his rookie season, Greg Gabriel was talking Moats up as a potential sixth-round steal. Now, a half-year later, Gabriel - the Western New York native and former Chicago Bears personnel executive that now writes for the National Football Post - has fine-tuned his stance on Moats.
Whereas he was accentuating the "work in progress" aspect of Moats during the season, Gabriel now seems a touch more convinced that Moats can be a player. In December, Gabriel wrote that Moats needed to work on counter-moves as a pass rusher; now he writes the following: "As a pass rusher, he is fast and explosive coming off the edge with good moves."
The one area in which Gabriel has remained consistent on Moats is that he needs to improve in pass coverage. "Where he had the most trouble was in pass coverage, having never done it before," Gabriel says. "He showed good drops and was able to get depth but his overall awareness in coverage was questionable. With the year of experience under his belt he should show huge improvement in this area."
Moats is the second Bills player that Gabriel has included in his series on potential break-out second-year players. C.J. Spiller was the first player he mentioned in the series.