25 Players in 25 Days: #1 Le'Veon Moss

Position: Running Back
Classification: Senior
Hometown: Walker, LA
Listed Height: 5-11
Listed Weight: 210 lbs.

Key notes from Liucci’s thoughts on Moss

• Le’Veon Moss should be No. 1. I think that we saw that last year. This is a guy that if he weren't a running back, he’d be A&M's highest projected NFL Draft prospect. That running back position is tricky to tell. I think he is one of the most prototypical NFL backs playing college football right now.
   
• He's a guy that I remember getting flipped from Alabama. He's from Louisiana, and LSU made a furious run at him late. They've tried to get him more than once since he left the state. He’s stayed loyal to Texas A&M. He went through the coaching change. Jimbo Fisher told me when they signed Moss that he thought, after that first impression, that he could end up being one of the best to come through A&M. Sounded like a lot at the time, now you watch him and wonder what last season would've looked like if he had not gotten injured. In fairness, he might be in the NFL right now. I’m not saying that is some good thing, I would love to see Moss fulfill his dream and provide for his family. He's got little kids. But what happened, happened.
   
• He's back, and I think he's going to be one of the best backs in the Southeastern Conference, if not, all of college football. And it's because the guys got power, he's got speed, he's got a throwback mentality at the position. He is everything that you want when you think of a Southeastern Conference tailback.
   
• If you are 50, you remember the running backs when you were younger. He's that style back. If you have been out of college for 10 years, and you remember some of those Alabama and LSU backs, the great stable Phillip Fulmer had at Tennessee. What Georgia has recently had under Kirby Smart. That is Moss’ caliber and style of runner.
   
• I think the Aggies are going to throw the ball deep down the field more. I think Marcel Reed will get it done with his arm and his feet. All that aside, I think Moss, more than any singular player, carries the A&M offensive identity on his back. He certainly did last year, and when he got hurt against South Carolina, it shouldn't have, but that’s what happens in Year 1 under a head coach. You don't have the team built up like you want it, and they were very dependent on him, and when he got hurt, it cost them, it derailed their season.
   
• I think Amari Daniels stepped up and played his butt off, but Moss, it's not a coincidence that as soon as he went down against South Carolina, it put a lot of pressure on Reed. Against Texas and Auburn, we had those short-yardage failures. He’s a guy that, in those fourth quarters, if you are giving it to Moss. You are just feeding it to No. 8. It probably looks a lot like how it looked in Jerry World against Arkansas. If you go back to A&M's biggest games, Moss won the Arkansas game. Those runs in the fourth quarter were spectacular. He had the back-breaking touchdown run against Missouri to start the third quarter to say, “Hey, this game is over in case you were wondering.” He had some huge plays against LSU during that comeback. In the Mississippi State game, he had some long runs called back from holding penalties that probably would've put the game away. He’s a finisher. He's a closer. He's a short-yardage stud. He's a goal-line stud. They didn't have him down the stretch for that, and it was a killer.
   
• They are so happy to have him back now. Mike Elko has been very careful and deliberate in how they've brought him back throughout camp. I don't know if it is a Week 1, Week 2 heavy load for Moss, but I do think there is some buildup you want to have going into the Notre Dame game.
   
• In some instances, there will be games they do use him a lot, but over the course of the season, how great would it be to have a fresh Moss in November? Hopefully, when you are playing for something bigger.

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