SANTANA MOSS
By: Dave-Te' Thomas

#6-SANTANA MOSS University of Miami Hurricanes 5:09.5-181

ANALYSIS
Positives... Hard worker who simply loves the game...Has a small, but well-defined body with outstanding stop-&-go action...Flashes tremendous quickness off the line, maintaining balance and body control in and out of his breaks...Plays at a solid low pad level that allows him to easily uncover from defenders in the open...Extends his arms and snatches the ball with his hands... Excels at working back to the ball, showing fearlessness going up for the pass in traffic...Exciting game-breaker on returns, moving effortlessly past defenders, but also displaying tremendous acceleration to avoid being tackled...One of the best in the game at tracking the ball in flight... Has that great leg drive needed to break tackles near the line and despite his size, shows power, determination and a solid hand punch to disengage from the press coverage...Extremely effective on crossing patterns, separating from his defender in an instant...Very flexible in his adjustments turning on the ball...Gives a good blocking effort upfield in run support...One of the best "high flyers" in the game, possessing a 42-inch vertical jump.

Negatives... While tough over the middle, he tends to "short arm" (keeps his hands near his body) working for the ball in traffic...His slight frame could be a problem vs. the more physical pro cornerbacks, but he has shown at Miami that he has enough effective moves to separate from the press coverage.

CAREER NOTES
Regarded by many as the most electrifying athletes in college football... Crowd-pleaser who is a threat to score anytime he has the ball...Became the first player in Big East Conference history to earn both Offensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year honors in the same season (2000)...He also became the first Hurricane to earn Big East Player of the Year honors since Gino Torretta in 1991...Set both season and career school and Big East records as he returned four punts for touchdowns in 2000 and six total for his career..His six scores rank second on the NCAA Division 1-A career-record list...Holds the Hurricanes all-time record with 2546 yards receiving, topping the old mark of 2423 yards by Michael Irvin (1985-87)...His 143 catches are surpassed only by Lamar Thomas (144, 1989-92) and teammate Reggie Wayne (173, 1997-2000) in school history...Also ranks third in Miami annals with 19 touchdown catches, ranking behind Thomas (23) and Irvin (26)...Holds the school career-record with 1196 yards gained on punt returns (77), surpassing the previous mark of 1153 yards by Eddie Dunn (91 returns, 1936-38), which was the oldest record in Miami history...A jack-of-all-trades, he also gained 277 yards rushing, 375 yards on kickoff returns and 7 yards on a fumble return during his time with the Hurricanes...His 4402 all-purpose yards broke the old school all-time record of 4265 yards by Ottis Anderson (1975-78)...Has also captured several Big East Conference titles while performing for Miami's track team.

REMIND ME OF... Jacksonville's Jimmy Smith.

GAZING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL... Before all the juniors declared, Moss was sitting on top of the mountain as this position's best prospect. Like Smith and Indianapolis' Marvin Harrison, a team that uses Moss as the home run threat will see a lot of points put up on the board. While I don't expect him to last that long, wouldn't he be a perfect fit for the Eagles in the first round?

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