Play by Play Analysis of CJ Mosley vs Arkansas

The play is going away from Mosley, but CJ keeps the OL off of him. The ball carrier is down before CJ gets there.

Mosley quickly sheds the block and helps finish off the tackle.

Mosley gets good initial depth. Without an All 22 angle, we can’t see CJ, but by the time Devall makes the sack he’s all the way over there to congratulate him.

Takes good first step against a power set, then quickly backs into coverage.

PA gets him up, as he sees fake he immediately backs into coverage. Crossing route, but sees the QB going the other way and heads that way. Shows good sideline-sideline ability by helping to finish the tackle.

Mosley immediately takes the TE (th first option for the QB) and has fantastic coverage, forcing the QB to scramble for the first on third and three.

Mosley takes his man quickly and runs with him down the field.

Mosley reads the back and does a great job shedding the block to make the tackle in the hole.

This is the play where Mosley got beat. He comes up on the snap, and then his man is behind him. He gets close to him, but can’t get there in time to stop the completion. it was a great throw, but Mosley makes his first mistake of the game by stepping too far up before taking his man.

This play explains why CJ Mosley is an elite player. Everybody gets beat, and on the previous play he was. On the next play they try going for him again, and he’s with the TE the whole way. HaHa makes the pick, but Mosley with excellent coverage makes the play.

Misdirection play away from Mosley, but he isn’t fooled. Again he displays his ability to quickly shed blocks and he comes in on the tackle.

Again great coverage by Mosley. Gets good depth and sticks with the receiver through the play. Notice how he breaks inside half a second before the receiver.

Zone coverage by Mosley. It’s not a bad play as everyone is covered up through his zone and he reads the QB taking off, he slips a bit, but still makes the tackle.

Second bad play by Mosley. The run comes in Mosley’s direction, but Collins is forced to go the other way and Mosley gets blocked out of the play.

Mosley bounces back with a good play. Sheds two blocks to get to the runner and tackle him.

Mosley initially looks to take the receiver, but then takes an awkward step forward and turns to run with his man. The QB is already throwing in a different direction at this stage, but it appears Mosley would have been behind by a step. Then you see the replay ( http://youtu.be/Rs7mAshwLa8?t=36m34s ) and notice that, while he wasn’t right on him, there were two other Bama defenders where Mosley’s man was going. Still, Mosley’s awkward forward lunge could have hurt him the receiver is running down the field to the endzone.

Mosley takes on the OL hard, and the runner slips through a crease past him.

Mosley stays away from blockers and is ready to stop the runner in his tracks. However the runner is taken down before he gets to Mosley or vice versa.

Good depth and coverage by Mosley.

Mosley blitzes the passer for the first time and helps push the pocket  a bit, but the QB wasn’t phased by any of the rush and delivered a strike.

Mosley uses his long arms to keep the blocker off of him and make the tackle.

Mosley gets blocked out of the tackle on an end around.

Mosley again uses his quickness and length to avoid a blocker, but the runner is brought down before he reaches Mosley or vice versa.

Mosley again gets away from blockers to get in on the tackle.

Drops into coverage. Not much happens near him.

Mosley rushes the passer for only the second time and gets good pressure on the QB after using his hands to avoid a blocker.

Once more CJ sheds a block and makes the sure tackle behind the line. Here is a replay of that play, so you see a different angle. http://youtu.be/Rs7mAshwLa8?t=50m8s

Mosley fakes the blitz and drops back into the lane, reads the QBs eyes, and almost picks the ball off, but he drops it.

Weird play because the runner runs around a lot. Mosley intially backs away expecting to drop back in coverage, but doesn’t take more than one step before he’s coming up to stop the run. Doesn’t make the tackle, but more or less does everything right.

Drops into coverage. As the QB rolls he heads in the same direction, watching the QB’s eyes.

Run play, Mosley gets off the block and makes the tackle.

Covers, nothing really happens around him during the play. Reads the pass and heads to the receiver, but he’s already out before Mosley gets there.

CJ rushes and gets another hurry on the QB. QB throws the ball away. Good job by Mosley to fight through the line.

Mosley never gets touched by a blocker, takes good angle to make the tackle. Make that a great angle.

Rolls with QB, pass goes away from him.

Runner cuts back away from Mosley, DePriest makes the tackle. Not much to notice on this play for CJ.

Back in after a few plays off letting Tana play, CJ keeps good balance when a blocker goes low and Mosley pursues the toss away from him. Ball carrier brought down before Mosley gets to him.

QB rolls left, Mosley comes and pressures him. QB throws pick.

CJ didn’t come back out on the next drive, and since both Tana Patrick AND Reggie Ragland were in, I’m going to assume he didn’t come back at all, as most starters are now out.

Total Evaluation : Mosley isn’t overhyped when it comes to coverage. He’s excellent. Doesn’t take any bad steps. On three rushes, he had two hurries. He shed blocks all night long, a testament to how good he really is. You don’t even need all of the fingers on your hand to count the number of bad play he had. On every play you see him CONSTANTLY making checks and communicating with everyone on defense. Truly a student of the game.