Malachi
Moore.
Malachi
Moore.
Alabama· 5'11"· 196 lb· 4.56s 40
"A smart, physical box safety who can immediately contribute on special teams, Moore's average athleticism and coverage limitations could keep him from a full-time defensive role."Pre-draft read
Moore is a communicator first. He plays with his eyes in split-field looks, gets the back end lined up, and triggers on run fits from depth without false steps. He is a willing, physical striker in the alley for a 196-pound safety, and his hands are legitimate: seven interceptions and 25 breakups in five Alabama seasons.
The athletic ceiling is the limit. He ran in the mid-4.5s and lacks the recovery burst to carry vertical routes from a single-high alignment or hold up over the slot against NFL speed. He can be moved out of the way by tight ends and pulling linemen at the point of attack. His value is processing and angles, not range.
Two-high quarters or split-safety structure that keeps him near the line of scrimmage and out of single-high responsibility.
Strong safety and big nickel who handles run fits, communication and zone drops underneath.
A single-high Cover 3 or Cover 1 defense that asks him to play the deep middle alone or travel with slot receivers.
His value is processing and physicality inside the box; pairing him with a rangy free safety hides the speed limitation.
Malachi Moore 🔥 DB Highlights ᴴᴰ
Game film cut-up of Malachi Moore's Alabama tape.
Malachi Moore | 2024 Highlights
Game film cut-up of Malachi Moore's Alabama tape.
Malachi Moore 🔥 Ultimate Sophomore Highlights ᴴᴰ
Game film cut-up of Malachi Moore's Alabama tape.
Moore arrived at Alabama as a freshman starter in 2020 and never left, playing 64 games across five seasons and finishing with 214 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, 25 pass breakups, three forced fumbles and 2.5 sacks. He was a team captain in 2024, when he set career highs in tackles and pass breakups while playing both nickel and deep safety.
Testing put a hard ceiling on the projection. At 5-11 and 196 pounds he ran in the 4.50 to 4.56 range with a 36-inch vertical and a 10-6 broad, with 15 bench reps at his pro day. Those are functional numbers, not separating ones, and they match a player whose tape is built on knowing where to be rather than getting there late.
What he offers is five years of high-level defensive football with no missed-assignment tape, positional flexibility between the slot and the post, and the kind of pre-snap communication that defensive coordinators trust immediately. What he does not offer is the range to be the last line of defense or the speed to travel with slot receivers. The realistic outcome is a box and slot safety in a two-high system, plus an immediate core special-teamer — a starter in the right structure, a heavy-rotation defender everywhere else.
- 01
Team captain
Was a five-year starter at Alabama and a 2024 team captain with elite pre-snap communication.
- 02
Ball skills
Displays genuine ball skills with seven career interceptions, 25 pass breakups, and two defensive scores.
- 03
Physicality
Shows willingness as a physical striker in the alley, despite a 196-pound frame.
- 04
Positional versatility
Offers positional flexibility between nickel, box safety, and split-field post roles.
- 05
Run diagnosis
Diagnoses run action from depth and takes efficient angles to the ball.
- 01
Recovery speed
Possesses mid-4.5 speed with no recovery burst, preventing him from carrying vertical routes from single-high.
- 02
Point of attack
Gets displaced by tight ends and pulling linemen at the point of attack.
- 03
Man coverage
Has limited man-coverage value against NFL slot receivers.
- 04
Range limitations
His range is scheme-dependent and he needs a partner to handle the deep half.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.56sp50
- Vertical
- 36inp50
- Broad jump
- 126inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 15repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Alabama | 11 | 43 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 2021 | Alabama | 15 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | Alabama | 13 | 28 | 1.5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2023 | Alabama | 13 | 51 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2024 | Alabama | 12 | 70 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| Career | — | 64 | 208 | 2.5 | 7 | 24 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- Team captain (Alabama, 2024)
- Second-team All-SEC (Alabama, 2024)
Smart, undersized safety-nickel hybrid who starts in sub packages and anchors special teams.
Box-first safety whose processing and tackling volume make him a full-time defensive starter.
Instinctive college captain whose athletic limits reduce him to a special-teams roster spot.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
The Jets handed him snaps and let the role grow. Moore appeared in fourteen games as a rookie, finished with 56 solo tackles, three pass breakups and a forced fumble, and saw his defensive workload climb steadily through the second half of the season as New York leaned on him near the line of scrimmage.
That is the likely projection playing out exactly as written. The processing and the tackling showed up immediately; the coverage snaps stayed close to the box and the slot rather than in the deep post, which is where the testing said they would stay. No interceptions in year one is a fair reflection of a role built on run support rather than ball-hawking. For a fourth-round safety, a fourteen-game rookie season with real defensive snaps and no assignment problems is a clean foundation.