BeaversEdge Top 25 for 2019: No. 10 Jalen Moore
In the months of June and July, BeaversEdge.com will be counting down the top 25 Oregon State football players on the 2019 roster.
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No. 33 Jalen Moore
Bio
6-foot, 215 pounds
Safety
Redshirt-Senior
Denver, Colo.
Upland [CA] HS
Career Quick Hits
- Has seen action in 34 games, starting 28
- Enters 2019 with 196 tackles, including three for loss.
- Also has eight pass deflections, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries
2018 stats
- Played in and started all 12 games
- Finished with 102 tackles, the first Beaver since 2013 to reach the century mark
- Recorded 14 tackles against Arizona, including 13 solo
- Tallied 13 tackles against California and 11 versus Oregon
- Forced a fumble and finished with eight tackles against Washington State
- Recovered a fumble and grabbed six tackles versus USC
- Credited with at least six tackles in 11 of his 12 games
- Had at least six solo tackles in eight games
2018 Recap
When looking at Moore's 2018 campaign, it's safe to say that he had an up and down season.
Despite leading the team in tackles (102), and becoming the first Beaver to reach the triple digit tackle mark since 2013, his season was largely overshadowed by Oregon State's poor defensive play as a team.
Per Pro Football Focus, Moore's best game of the season came against Nevada. Moore scored a grade of 77.9 as he recorded four tackles and was thrown at four times, but allowed only one completion for 25 yards. He also tallied a pass break up.
As far as individual stats go, Moore showcased a lot of versatility in his redshirt-junior season as he was asked to defend against the run more than ever, while still increasing his pass break ups and overall pass coverage. He'll need to take his production to another level in 2019, but I believe he'll be one of the guys that really benefits from being in the same defensive system for a second straight year.
With Oregon State's front seven providing little resistance to opposing rushers on a week-to-week basis, Moore often found himself as the last line of defense between a ballcarrier and the end zone.
While Moore wasn't perfect, missing the third-most tackles in the FBS as a safety (22), he saved a lot of would be touchdowns on pure effort alone and that says a lot about how dedicated Moore is on the field.
2019 Outlook
With Moore noting back in spring that he was ready to take on a bigger leadership role in his senior season, don't be surprised if that leads to a bigger, and a more productive overall season than year ago.
Don't get me wrong, it's never a bad thing to lead the team in tackles, and that's certainly an accomplishment for Moore in his college career. But ideally, when it comes to top-end defensive production, your safety doesn't lead the team in tackles.
If Oregon State's defense can provide more support up front, Moore will be able to focus in on being the physical, ball-hawking safety that the Beavers need opposite of David Morris.
With Moore entering his senior season, he'll likely be one of the go-to playmakers on defense week in and week out for defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar and Co.
He'll benefit greatly from being able to focus in on being a true-safety rather than a run stopping safety valve this season, and given that the Beavers now boast a healthy, and more versatile cast than a season ago, Moore has high expectations for the team as a whole heading into his final campaign.
“We’re going to be a lot better this year,” Moore said in spring. “We’ve got a lot of transfers coming in and guys are coming back healthy. Avery Roberts is going to be big add to our defense. Omar (Hicks-Onu) is going to be back, David (Morris) is going to be back. Those guys, with the defensive lineman coming in and guys we brought back, we’re going to be better.”
With the Beavers presumably having to rely less on their secondary players to come up to the line of scrimmage and defend against the run game, it's very likely we'll see Moore utilized in a more effective way this season where his stats more accurately represent that of an impact-safety rather than a run stopping linebacker.
Look for him to be one of the anchors of the Oregon State defense in his last rodeo.