Patriots Draft Prospects: D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt

The Patriots have the 23rd pick in the first round of this season’s draft. Over the next few months, Patriots Examiner be taking a look at some of the players they might be looking at with their first round pick.

I’m a fan of mock drafts, and I’ll probably write a few of my own, but if you can’t wait for me to get off my lazy butt and write one, NE Patriots Draft’s mock draft database is a fantastic resource.

Conventional wisdom is that the Patriots will go defense early and often in this year’s draft. Their biggest needs are at cornerback and linebacker, so we’ll do our best to look at all of the cornerbacks and linebackers that are slotted to go in and around the 23rd pick.

We’ll start our Patriots Draft series with one of the best cornerbacks in the SEC.

D.J. Moore, CB/KR/WR, Vanderbilt

Height: 5-10  Weight: 184
Age: 21  Class: Junior
40 Time (unofficial): 4.34 to 4.45

Moore is one of the most versatile players in the draft. He’s a potential lock-down cornerback who can step right in as a dynamic kick returner. He’s also a pretty good wide receiver.

Basically, he's the prototypical Belichick player.

Moore was probably the best cornerback in the SEC. Given that the SEC is the best conference in college football, that's saying something.

In Moore, the Patriots would get something that they were sorely lacking last season: a cornerback who can cover good receivers.

His biggest issue will be his size. At 5-10, he could have trouble with some of the bigger wide receivers in the NFL.

But what he lacks in size, he makes up in athleticism. And the Patriots have shown a willingness to draft short cornerbacks in the past.

Plus, he's at least 2, probably 3 inches taller than Ellis Hobbs.

Unlike the Deltha O'Neals of the world, NFL receivers are not going to be able to run by Moore. He could time anywhere between 4.3 and 4.5 at the combine, but on the field in pads he’s lightning quick.

He catches mistakes, which is another quality that the Patriots' secondary was lacking last season. They don't play you at wide receiver if you can't catch the ball.

He's also a pretty good tackler and should be able to hold his own in run support.

Moore had 6 interceptions in 2008, even though opposing quarterbacks avoided him like the plague. He finished his collegiate career with 13 interceptions, 12 coming in his final 2 seasons.

We all know the Patriots love versatile players, and Moore fits that description perfectly.

This article originally appeared on the New England Patriots Examiner page. To read more articles like this one, check them out here.

Sean Crowe covers the New England Patriots for Examiner.com and writes a bi-weekly column for Sports-Central.org.

He is a Senior Writer and an NFL Community Leader at Bleacher Report. You can email him at [e-mail].