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Both of them
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,225
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Moats trying to keep hands on roster spot
http://www.courierpostonline.com/app...82/1002/SPORTS
Quote:
With his career in the NFL seemingly hanging by a thread, Eagles running back Ryan Moats has quit worrying about the little things.
"All I can do is play. With all my heart," said the 5-foot-8, 210-pound back, who is at Lehigh University for his third training camp.
Moats went on to say that the numbers situation at his position, complicated by a pair of 2007 draft picks, is not even close to a concern.
"I really don't care," he said. "I run. That's all I do."
In the end, that purist stance may be all he has left.
For fleeting moments, Ryan Moats is all the running back anyone would want. Fast, quick, strong and instinctive, he can be dazzling to fans and frustrating to opponents in much the same way that starter Brian Westbrook has been on a weekly basis.
But unlike Westbrook, Moats seems prone to the frustrating mistake as well.
During a recent training camp practice, he broke a scintillating 30-yard run, complete with three broken tackles and a spin move.
But then the ball hit the ground, forced out and recovered by linebacker Tank Daniels.
"When I spun on that one I was a little disoriented," he explained. "I just have to be a little more aware of my surroundings.
"I was trying to get going forward and somebody just got a good hand on it. When I spin I've got to put two hands on it. That's the bottom line right there."
Two days later, the play was clearly still in head coach Andy Reid's mind.
"Ryan's doing a nice job running the football," Reid said. "The one thing he has to do is continue to hang on to the football. That's very important in this offense, or any offense. You can't put the ball on the ground.
"He's so aggressive in his running style, and that's a plus for him, but he's really got to concentrate on keeping that ball close to his body or it's going to pop out."
Something has never quite added up for Moats' career as an NFL running back, and now the math is looking tougher than ever.
Westbrook is one of the top offensive weapons in the NFC and his 2006 backup, Correll Buckhalter, is coming off one of the most productive -- and healthiest -- season of his career.
April's draft was even more troublesome to Moats' situation, as the Eagles chose Penn State running back Tony Hunt in the third round and Hawaii back Nate Ilaoa in the seventh.
Last year, the Eagles kept five running backs, including return specialist Reno Mahe. This year, with wide receiver Jeremy Bloom slotted as the returner, the team is likely to carry just four backs into the regular season.
Moats claims none of those factors matter to him, however.
"The last few years I've stressed myself out a few times trying to figure out things and the way things happen and stuff," he said. "This year I just let the marbles fall where they fall and play with my heart."
The Eagles drafted Moats out of Louisiana Tech in the third round of the 2005 draft.
In his first two NFL seasons, Moats rushed 77 times for 347 yards and three touchdowns. However, more than half the yards and all the scores came in a pair of games during the end of the Eagles' 2005 campaign.
In 2006, Moats carried the ball just 22 times for 60 yards and returned a pair of kickoffs.
His skill set would seem to make his a prime candidate for the returner job now nominally held by second-year project Jeremy Bloom, but Moats' special teams responsibilities seem to be diminishing, not advancing.
On Friday, first-year special teams coordinator Rory Segrest threw Moats' name in at the end of the kickoff return mix behind Bloom and Buckhalter, along with reserve wide receiver J.J. Outlaw.
Special teams isn't Moats' focus anyway.
"I hope it doesn't have to come to me playing special teams," he said. "I hope that I'm a good enough running back to be chosen because of my running ability. If it boils down to special teams, then, hey, that's what it is."
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Moats trying to keep hands on roster spot
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