Why Detroit Lions’ Derrick Moore pick was a slam dunk

NOTE: Before we dive in, remember that all data cited in this section is provided exclusively by Fantasy Points Data Suite.

Accolades:

• CFP College Football Playoff (2022)
• CFP National Champion (2023)
• All Big Ten honorable mention (2023)
• All Big Ten honorable mention (2024)
• First-team All Big Ten (2025)
• Named 2025 Team Captain
• Named Bo Schembechler MVP (2025)
• 2025 Michigan Defensive Player of the Year

Strengths:

• Prototype size and length for modern EDGE profile. Derrick Moore is 6-foot-4, 260 pounds with 34-inch arms. He is proportionally built and may even have a little room left on his frame to add some good weight.
• Good athlete with excellent first step and transitional burst. Moore’s first step is excellent. He covers a ton of ground and can force early adjustments from offensive linemen across from him. The instant he processes new information, he has the ability to change paths and explode in the opposite direction. His closing burst in pursuit also allows him to finish at a high level, whether as a rusher or chasing down run plays from the backside.
• Developed pass-rush plan with developed move set. The starting point for Moore’s game as a pass-rusher is his strength, physicality, and power. He is very heavy-handed, and you see his power translate with jolting strikes to offensive linemen. This lends to Moore having an excellent bull rush and speed-to-power conversions. Off the speed-to-power, he can transition into an elite pull rip technique. Moore doesn’t just have to play through the chest of his opponent, though; he has a variety of developed moves that allow him to soften the edge and win the corner—most notably a cross chop/rip technique. In 2024 and 2025, Moore started putting some very effective, organic, inside counters on tape as well. There, you will see him with a beautiful euro-step double-swipe counter and a baby hump. Lastly, Moore is slippery, able to dip under his opponent’s punches with surprising bend for his size. This allows him to get his pads square to his target once he wins the rep and launch a full, hands-free assault on the ball carrier/quarterback.
• Analytical pass-rush profile is S-tier. Moore’s resume by the numbers is second only to David Bailey in this class. Over his four-year career, he amassed a total pass-rush win rate of almost 20%, with that number rising to nearly 23% his final two seasons. In 2025, he had a pass-rush win rate on true-pass sets (5-7 step drop with no PA) of nearly 40% – which is borderline extraterrestrial. He was unstoppable. From a raw counting standpoint, Moore racked up 80 total pressures and 30 combined sacks and hits on the quarterback. This, despite the fact that Michigan’s defensive line was loaded with talent and had basically been an eight-man rotation throughout his college career.
• Scheme versatile. Moore is definitely most comfortable lined up wide, outside the tackle (7-technique or wide-9) from a two-point stance, but he can line up with his hand in the dirt too. There are reps, especially early in his college tenure, of him reducing down to a 4i alignment and wreaking havoc in the A and B gaps, often as a stunter or looper. He also held up in run defense when in those reduced alignments when Michigan went to an odd-front.
• High-IQ player with the ability to quickly diagnose and react. Moore’s understanding of run concepts is awesome. His eye discipline and synced-up feet make him and his opponent look like synchronized swimmers, especially when he reads outside zone. When he reads power or counter as a playside run defender, he quickly diagnoses and triggers into a puller in a take-on role, collapsing the alley.
• Strong at the point of attack against the run. When Moore is the force defender vs. the run, you see the heavy hands and play strength to anchor and leverage his gap. I wouldn’t recommend teams block him one-on-one with a tight end unless that tight end is a very gifted blocker and/or has a head of steam as a split player (see OSU 2025).

Weaknesses:

• Can be content to stack and hang on leverage as a run defender. Moore doesn’t always play with a ton of urgency in his desire to shed blockers as the play comes to him. Some of this could be coaching–where the idea is to stack, anchor, and peak a gap, forcing everything back inside while letting the linebackers clean everything up. However, for as heavy-handed as he is and his ability to win hand fights, I would like to see him shed, chase, and try to be more disruptive in the backfield. Either way, the Lions will definitely value the raw edge-setting component here, even if some development is needed to become more disruptive on the whole.
• Needs to develop secondary counters. Moore has variety in the way he wins early, but what happens if things stall out? So far through his career, Moore has gotten by with a burning hot motor, but he will need to refine and add to the pass-rush plan to keep his rush alive against better offensive tackles.
• Likely good, but not an elite athlete. We didn’t get official testing from Moore at the combine or at his pro day. I do have access to advanced GPS data on him, however, and what we see is a 75th-percentile-or-better athlete in top-speed output, change of direction, and acceleration.

NOTE: You can find my formal write-ups on Derrick Moore and all the Lions draft picks in my 2026 NFL Prospect Guide.

Bottom line:

Derrick Moore is an uber-talented EDGE prospect with a developed pass-rush skill set to go with a mouth-watering blend of size, length, and athleticism. He also brings a high football IQ and instincts to the table. His run defense isn’t bad, but it lags behind his pass-rush ability. This could make him the perfect partner with DJ Wonnum early on. Wonnum thrives on run-downs. The Lions have finally found a high-caliber pass-rush threat to set opposite their superstar, Aidan Hutchinson. This was a slam dunk of a pick.