Briley Moore crammed a lot of highlights into his only season at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
His best day as a Wildcat came with a four-catch performance in an upset of No. 3 Oklahoma in Norman, and Moore also hauled in touchdowns in wins over Texas Tech and Kansas.
When it comes to his NFL hopes, what Moore did across the athletics complex at the team’s indoor practice facility on Tuesday might be even more important.
“I was just able to showcase the athlete that I am,” he said. “Just show that whether it’s strength, speed or changing direction, I’m able to do things at a high level.”
K-State hosted the team’s annual Pro Day on Tuesday ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, with Moore one of the biggest names among the 10 Wildcats who worked out in front of NFL scouts.
2021 Pro Day ✔️#KStateFB ⚒️ @NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/SSoFN1RFc0
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) March 10, 2021
He was joined by Wyatt Hubert, who has been a regular in NFL mock drafts after a decorated career in Manhattan and an impressive performance in the Reese’s Senior Bowl this spring.
Hubert recorded the eighth most sacks in K-State history (20) during his three seasons with the Wildcats and was the only unanimous first-team selection to the 2020 All-Big 12 defense.
If either Hubert or Moore are drafted next month, it would see K-State begin a new streak after 2020 marked the first time in 26 years that a Wildcat was not selected in the NFL Draft.
Hubert said he spoke with representatives from several NFL teams following his workout in Manhattan, including scouts from the Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs.
“You definitely get a lot of feedback,” he said. “The defense we ran here at Kansas State was so similar to an NFL-style type of defense. That’s just one thing I’m super blessed and fortunate to have done here.”
Hubert talked about the importance of showcasing two parts of his game that he believes could be a strength in the NFL: flexibility and lateral quickness.
He performed a drill on Tuesday used by NFL scouts to evaluate those tendencies, a three-cone drill that asks him to change direction and accelerate through a series of cones. For an edge rusher, that’s pretty crucial.
Hubert ran the three-cone drill in seven seconds flat, which as Reese’s Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy tweeted out on Tuesday, is pretty ridiculous for a guy who’s 265 pounds:
UPDATE: Wyatt Hubert timed 7.00 on his three come at today’s @KStateFB pro-day. Impressive change of direction and ability to bend for pass rusher. More important than 40-yard dash. Goal accomplished. ✅
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) March 9, 2021
And for some added perceptive, that three-cone drill time is faster than Khalil Mack.
“Personally, I think I tested pretty well. Some things I think I exceeded my standards, some things I could’ve done a little bit better, but, overall, I’m happy with my times,” Hubert said. “It was definitely a good day, not just for me but for a lot of my teammates. It was really nice being out there with nine or 10 other guys that I’ve played with for the last two to three years.”
One of those teammates was Moore, who looked to impress the NFL scouts in attendance on the other side of the ball. Beginning his career at Northern Iowa, the tight end was already a known commodity at the FCS level when he joined K-State as a graduate transfer.
The pandemic and nagging injuries made it less than ideal conditions for Moore to showcase his potential in 2020, but the senior still finished with 338 yards receiving and three touchdowns.
“Nobody else has ever had to go through this stuff for a full season with the precautions and testing and everything that we have. In 10 years from now, this class is going to be special because of the mental toughness everyone has built,” Moore said. “With my journey in football, everything I’ve done I had to work hard and make nothing into something.”
Even at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, Moore built a reputation in college as a pass-catching tight end and someone who was more than capable of breaking a big play with the Wildcats.
One of his strengths on Pro Day was route-running, where Moore said he looked to demonstrate his versatility and the “strength, speed and change of direction,” that made him the top red zone target on the Wildcats last season.
He has slimmed down this spring, confident that his credentials as a run-blocker were established in his stint with K-State. After all, that was a season where running back Deuce Vaughn became the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year playing out of the same backfield.
“It’s funny because when you’re talking to scouts, they’ll say, ‘You’re a good receiving tight end, but we didn’t know you could block that well.’ Then I’ve talked to some who have said, ‘You’re a great run-blocking tight end and I was surprised at how good you were in the receiving game.’ I love to hear that, because it shows the versatility that I was talking about,” Moore said.
📈📈📈 pic.twitter.com/1BxK1HDlht
— Briley Moore (@Briley_moore22) March 9, 2021
The Blue Springs, Missouri native only lives about 10 minutes from Arrowhead Stadium and said he has chatted with representatives from the Chiefs this offseason.
Moore was also invited to the NFL Combine before the event was canceled, even if he didn’t see that career-changing email because it was sent to an old Northern Iowa email account.
“Checked my spam on one of my old email addresses from when I was back at Northern Iowa, and it was in there,” he said. “My uncle, his wife and my fiancé were in the living room, and they heard me start screaming in the shower.”
It hasn’t been a straightforward path to the NFL Draft this season, but that’s nothing new for a guy like Moore. After putting in the work on Tuesday, he’s ready for the home stretch.
“I feel confident,” he said. “Going into this next phase, the numbers I put up today, I’ll be able to go to sleep tonight knowing if May 1st comes around and I don’t get a call during the Draft or whatever it is, I can go to sleep tonight knowing it’s not because I didn’t do everything I could at Pro Day.”