The Falcons stayed on the defensive side of the ball in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft, selecting Missouri safety William Moore with the 55th overall pick.
General Manager Thomas Dimitroff said the team did plenty of research on Moore, who had a private workout with the team.
Dimitroff said Moore will play strong safety for the Falcons, but his speed (he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.51 seconds at the Combine) provides some flexibility.
He returned four of his 11 career interceptions for touchdowns and leaves Missouri with 284 tackles.
“He’s going to add speed and urgency: Everything we’ve talked about with our defense,” the general manager said. “We’re fortunate he dropped to 55.”
Moore said he immediately connected with Dimitroff and Head Coach Mike Smith and hoped he ended up in Atlanta on draft day.
May experts had him as a top-10 or 15 pick after his junior season but injuries limited his time as a senior. The resulting slide was troublesome, but expected.
“It was very tough, especially since I know what I can do and I know what type of player I am,” he said. “When I slipped, I just thought about what my mom said. Everything happens for a reason and this has to be the reason.”
Moore’s known for a devotion to the game and his teammates. He wears No. 25 in honor of friend and former Missouri linebacker Aaron O’Neil, who died during summer drills in 2005.
Even though injuries have kept him out of games, he has a record of playing through pain.
“That’s just the kind of person I am,” he said. “I’ve been playing rough ball my whole life. A tweak here or there is part of the game. If you don’t have those you’re not playing hard enough.”
MORE ON WILLIAM MOORE:
- YOUTUBE: William Moore highlights on YouTube
- DIMITROFF: GM’s thoughts on safety William Moore
- PHOTOS: Images of new Falcons safety William Moore
- FORUMS: Talk about the selection with other fans
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89 Comments
its amazing everybody wants michael johnson and asher allen. even wanted johnson in the first round lmao. the only reason why is because they played for georgia and georgia tech. yall make it seem like they just awesome
Something that I forgot to mention is that Marcus Freeman plays OLB.
@Eric
I think its pertinent that we have depth on our OL. Since we have great RB like Michael Turner, Jerious Norwood, Snelling, and Thomas Brown and we are a run first team and we, it would help our run game tremendously. Also, keeping Matt Ryan upright and off his back will just give him more time to think….”Hmm, should I throw to Roddy, Tony, Michael, Jenkins, Harry or just run it myself??” haha
@junior12785
We’re not wishing to get Michael Johnson or Asher Allen just because they played at Georgia or GT…we want them because they’re pretty good players and they’d be a STEAL in the 3rd and 4th round. I’m actually surprised Johnson dropped to the 3rd round, if he’s there for the taking why not pick him and help our DL.
Still kinda wanted Clay Matthews……
Congratulations to Thomas Dimitroff, Coach Smith, et al. Two great picks. It is hard to believe we got the second best DT in this years draft with the 24th pick. I like our pick at #55 also. We have a bigger, faster, younger version of Lawyer Milloy now. I was concerned about having to count on Jamaal Fudge at 194 pounds, and Thomas DeCoud at 197 pounds being able to hold up for the 19 games we are going to play next year. William Moore is 221 pounds. He will easily be the new thumper, replacing Lawyer Milloy who was 216 pounds. Size, speed , and age matter.
@Tim Bowman
Good Tim. we don’t want or need fans like you at the dome. but any smart football fan has to take a look at our schedule and know win or lose you will get your money’s worth out.
i dont understand y every says we need another linebacker when we picked up mike peterson earlier this year during free angncey from the JAGS we also have curtics lofton who is a powerful hitter i think we should get a fast conerback, or a fast DE.A fst CB because this will either help out the protectoin and could help out are return game. or a fast DE can learn very well the syle of play of John Abraham so the qb would have pressure from both outsides of the pocket and have have the inside open up for blitz, or put both de ends on the same side have one of them go around the pocket the tackle will follow then have the de end on the inside slant to the inside the gaurd will follow leaving a huge gap for curtis lofton or mike peterson to blitz they will nvr see it coming
Great picks but still need a LB and CB, love me some Freeman, I think he is as good or better than James Laurintis. Depth and rotation will be the key to our defense…..
@Acantay patton
I feel your pain but in the NFL you have to stop the run FIRST, when you put teams in to “must pass” on 3rd down than everyone is a better pass rusher. Abraham was better because he was used mainly on pass rushing situation only. We need more overall depth on defense.
no to be a homer but there are THREE talented gamecocks left on the board in TE jared cook (i know we’re filled but he’s the rawest TE coming out in years as he was WR until a year or two ago and #88 could teach him a lot) but more importantly for our squad is OL Jamon Meredith. He manned the RT, LT, and LG positions at S. Carolina and is a chiseled 6′3 290 easily playing in the 300s and could play all 5 positions on the line with some NFL tutoring.
For those of you still complaining about not picking up a LB, especially Rey Maluwhatever though we have Lofton, we might could pick up Jasper Brinkley late for a good deal and solid back up to lofton especially on running downs.
@Cpat16
i say that because everybody kept sayin we should draft johnson in the first round. that guy is not first round talent. thats y i said everybody wants him cause he played for GT. as for asher allen i heard people talkin bout movin up to take this guy. NO. william moore is a better corner than him and hes still available. thats why i say everyone want him cause he played for GA. ya feel me
everybody who complaining must not watch football!!! thomas dimitroff knows what he is doing!!! you see what he did with the patriots!
@Cpat16
I like the ol duke idea dought he will be around when next pick comes.P.S. what ever happened to Jimmy Williams and Martiz Millner? Best thing that ever happened to Atlanta was Mr.Blank sorry it all started with the owner!!!
well to all the people praying for johnson and allen they are gone. i wonder how many people will bash t.d. for not trading up for him. i know im pissin folks off but hey im a fan to
i meant d.j. moore. not william moore sorry bout dat
I do not like 3rd round pick.
i never heard of chris owens. anybody got any stats on him. i got grasshoppers chirpin on my end
@john
Most safeties are going to be in trouble if the get put on an island on the outside. If that happens a lot, its not him, its the defense as a whole.
wut is up with that 3rd round pick??? MARK PARSON
@Tim Bowman
You have to be one of those clowns that was drooling over one of those overrated USC LBs
dominique johnson has a big frame and is fast….i feel blindsided by this third round pick
I think we should look at the liberty rb rashaad jennings., a big boi that can rumble downfield like michael the burner
are u serious talkin bout lookin at another RB. man we got 4 running backs. we are not denver
I love our picks so far but I’ve been scratching my head as to why Atlanta hasn’t picked a LB yet.
Then I realized that ATL has a pick extremely early in the 5th round, and if they take Marcus Freeman, it will blow my mind because that must’ve been a dream scenario for TD.
And they took another DB, but then I noticed they also have the #7 pick in round 5. Still not sure why they haven’t taken an LB yet. They must be looking for a sleeper in the secondary. Well, regardless of what Atlanta does, I have faith in Dimitroff and Coach Smith. They know what they’re doing.
i love that the bucs moved up and got josh freeman i that he is going to be to the falcons what reggie ball was for uga….. thanks bucs
TRUST THE MAD RUSSIAN !!!!
(I don’t know if Dimitroff is a Russian name or not, but
it’s a cool saying, keep it going.
Thanks, we could do without your malcontent ass being out there, stay home
@Chuck
ok chuck its cool…you dont need to say it on every single topic
Man this draft was awesome. Filled all the major holes and for great value. I don’t understand the people that are disappointed. Just because we didn’t get a lot of flashy, sexy picks doesn’t mean we had a bad draft. Dimitroff and the scouts know what they’re doing and we just need to let the process play out.
I’M PUMPED!
OMG!!! WE have just witnessed the best draft ever by the Falcons….TD is all FOOTBALL and just got us 8 massiave hardnosed passionated FOOTBALL players!! THANKS!!!! im ready
Check out the size of some of the last few lineman TD picked.. 6′7 and over 300 lbs Falcons want get pushed around for years to come….TD delivered on his prommise to all Falcon fans..THANKS!
I saw Moore play in person his junior and senior year. He is a linebacker playing safety. Think Rodney Harrison, but more athletic. He is always around the ball and he hits like a truck. This is a great pick. I hoped that Moore would fall far enough for us to get him. Hear me now, believe me later, this guy will be a difference maker for us. Go Falcons!!!!
@rick Peterson was signed to take Brooking’s place. Coy Wire was starting in front of Boley anyway. I would like to see us find another strongside linebacker, but we are pretty much set in the middle and weakside. I guarantee that our defense wont get any worse (24th last yr), the guys we let go weren’t worth keeping!!!! If we improve defensively this year we will make a deep playoff run.
Speed! Football players! Pasion! AS long as we aint pickin like OAKLAND.
this is best shape that this franchise has ever been in. i have been a falcons fan since they came here- remember the day’s of jim “cannon ball ” butler,nobis,claude humphery,bartkowski– i love the direction that TD is taking our team– finaly have something to watch on sunday !!
@Tim Bowman
This Tim Bowman guy must be a Bucs fan…
I am not 100% sold on Middleton or Owens, but the Jerry, Moore, and Sidbury picks are excellent. We will win the NFC South again this year and I look forward to watching Jerry drill Drew Brees into the turf.
I was a doubter…I thought we needed to take Dorsey instead of Ryan…but I have now seen the light…Hail Dimitroff!
LOL, and which rookie SS of the last 4-5 years would be fine when “hung out” on a corner in their first NFL season? Don’t be rediculous, he’s a hybrid and has the INT’s and speed to prove it. I think we got two first rounders with Jerry and Moore.