Why Undrafted?: Thaddeus Moss, TE, LSU
By Charlie Campbell, @draftcampbell
Six years ago, we started a series of articles on why certain prospects went undrafted. In that series, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out why their organizations passed on drafting a given player, and/or, what were the reasons for other teams to pass on that prospect. We got a lot of positive reader feedback about the series, so we decided to expand in the genre to investigate why some prospects slid in the draft. Four years ago, we started the Why the Slide? series, and this year it is back. Feel free to email me requests for Why the Slide? and Why Undrafted? at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.
The 2020 NFL Draft was loaded with talent from college football’s National Champions. One of the productive Tigers who got a lot of attention during the team’s dream 2019 season was Thaddeus Moss. As the son of Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss, Thaddeus Moss had a lot of attention, but he stepped up and contributed 47 receptions for 570 yards and four touchdowns during 2019. As a result, many projected Moss to get selected in the mid-rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft, but he surprisingly went undrafted.
Multiple team sources say that medical concerns around a foot injury and durability played a role in Moss going undrafted. They also said that size was an issue for the 6-foot-2, 250-pounder, as that is very short and lacking length for a NFL tight end. Another team said that it hurt Moss that he didn’t test before the draft and they felt he was slow with a bad body, but a good player at the college level.
After going undrafted, Moss signed with the Washington Redskins, which was a good choice for him. The Redskins cut veteran tight end Jordan Reed and could use some youth at the position. With the new coaching staff under Ron Rivera, the Redskins aren’t beholden to any of the holdovers, and it is a wide open competition for Moss with veterans Jeremy Sprinkle, Richard Rodgers and Logan Thomas. Washington didn’t draft a tight end either, so he won’t have a rookie placed ahead of him because of the pick investment. Rivera and his staff have always been willing to give late-round and undrafted players are a legit chance, so Moss should have a real shot at sticking with the Redskins.
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