Background

Derrick Moore grew up in the Cherry Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, raised by his mother, Jakia Stewart, after his father's incarceration. When Jakia first saw how big he was getting, she told people she thought he was going to be a sumo wrestler, and then a basketball player, before he fouled out of the sport so consistently that football became the obvious path. He attended St. Frances Academy, where he posted 55 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, and 12 sacks as a senior, won MaxPreps Maryland Football Player of the Year, and dedicated his two-sack Under Armour All-American Game MVP performance to teammate Aaron Wilson, who had died of brain cancer eight months earlier. A four-star recruit ranked second in Maryland, he committed to Oklahoma before flipping to Michigan when Lincoln Riley departed for USC. He was part of the 2023 national championship team, making the game-ending tackle on Alabama's Jalen Milroe on fourth-and-goal in the Rose Bowl CFP semifinal. He broke out in 2025 with 10 sacks, earning team captain honors, the Bo Schembechler Most Valuable Player award, and Michigan's Defensive Player of the Year, before declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Physical Attributes

Derrick Moore measured in at 6'4" and 255 lbs at the combine. The only other testing he did was a 30" vertical and 9'07" broad jump. Neither of those numbers is great. He suffered a small hamstring injury that kept him out of the combine, so by his pro day the injury still could have been affecting him. And looking at the tape, I would think it was. Moore is an explosive athlete with top tier get off speed and a firm base he uses to generate good power. He has very good bend as well and can hunt the outside shoulder of tackles when offered.

Data and Tape Analysis

If you are unfamiliar with my EDGE radar charts, you can find more information here

Michigan creates some really pretty radar charts, and if Derrick Moore just had a 9% stop percentage, we could've had a Pacman. Sadly, almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so we must instead grade the ostensibly good chart and tape given to us by Moore.

Speaking of the parts that let us down in the Pacman formation, Moore is an ineffective run defender. According to PFF, Moore accounted for zero TFLs on the season. That is not good. It is not as if he is offering a ton in that area of the game, as he only had 17 tackles on the year, with 11 of those being sacks. He is strong and can stand up against run blocks, but he seems incapable of getting off them. He will struggle with this in the league unless there is marked improvement.

Moore offers a lot more as a pass rusher. His go-to move is a speed to power move that uses his athleticism. He also has this weird hesitation move that catches out linemen a lot. It takes time to come off, and could use some refinement, but it could be very effective at the next level. He quickly identifies openings to get to the QB. Whether it be a weak shoulder on an OT, or shooting the B gap when aligned inside, he goes through it like a knife through hot butter.

Grade and Outlook

Moore shows enough on tape to create an image of the type of player he would be if he were successful in the NFL. A player who uses his burst and lower body strength to bully linemen with devastating speed to power moves, combined with one or two others to keep them guessing. He will need a lot of work learning how to leverage properly in the run game, but at worst he looks like a designated pass rusher.

Grade: 5.8 ( Late 2nd Rounder / Early 3rd Rounder