Moore too fast to remain a secret, but 49ers got him
Tarvarius Moore ran a blazing 40-yard dash at his pro day, which was great news for him.
And horrible news for 49ers secondary coach Jeff Hafley.
Hafley thought the 49ers had a draft secret in Moore, a defensive back who wasn’t among the 336 prospects invited to the NFL combine after starting one season at Southern Mississippi.
Then Moore blew the 49ers’ cover by blowing the doors off his pro day: His 4.32-second 40-yard dash would have matched the fastest at the combine.
After hearing about Moore’s time, Hafley told 49ers.com he “threw his phone across the room” because he knew “everyone else was going to start to see him.”
Said head coach Kyle Shanahan: “You think you’ve got a sleeper, and then the guy goes and runs a 4.32 at his pro day, and all of a sudden, he’s not so much of a sleeper.”
But he is a 49er.
The team made sure of that by using a third-round pick on Moore, who thought he might go undrafted in August, just before his final college season.
“I knew I had a chance” to be drafted, Moore said, “and I knew I had to have a good season to give myself every advantage.”
Moore was a college safety but the 49ers envision him as an NFL cornerback, a position at which they seek height, length and, yes, speed. Moore is 6-foot-2 with long arms and 193 pounds. He reached the state finals in the 100 and 200 meters in each of his final three years at Quitman (Miss.) High.
His strong senior season (87 tackles, three interceptions) put him on the 49ers’ radar before his March 29 pro day put him on the predraft map: Moore visited 13 teams from April 1 through April 18 as the league scurried to learn more about him. His workout also included a vertical jump (39½ inches)
and broad jump (11 feet, 1 inch) that would have ranked second and fifth, respectively, among defensive backs at the combine.
“I was probably an underthe-radar guy,” Moore said. “Not a lot of teams knew a lot about me, and if they did, they were trying to keep it under wraps. But after my pro day, it definitely opened a lot of eyes and I was no longer that guy you could sweep under the rug.”
The 49ers wanted to host Moore for a pre-draft visit, but his schedule wouldn’t allow it. However, assistant defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks visited Moore in Hattiesburg, Miss. — and Hafley evidently didn’t break his phone if he did, indeed, hurl it across a room.
“I can remember some days (Hafley) calling three or four times asking me questions,” Moore said. “Questions like, did I feel comfortable playing corner?”
It’s a good question to ask considering Moore hasn’t played the position since his junior year of high school.
Lynch has acknowledged the 49ers are projecting Moore can play the position based on his athleticism and the coverage ability he displayed in college.
Moore said he’ll have to “knock the dust off,” but expects to make the transition. And Lynch, a former NFL safety, thinks the 49ers will have a capable free safety if Moore struggles at cornerback.
“We know he can play safety,” Lynch said. “We’re going to give it a go and see. ... I would tell you, if you’re going to play safety, the best thing you could do is go play corner. (Former NFL defensive back and head coach) Herm Edwards, when he came to Tampa Bay, he made me go cover receivers as a corner and it makes you a better safety.”
In other words, the 49ers aren’t quite sure if they have a future cornerback or safety in Moore.
At this point, though, they are just happy to have him after their secret got out.