Indianapolis Colts fleece Oakland Raiders for Sio Moore

Oakland Raiders new head coach Jack Del Rio has all sorts of ideas for how his defense will look in the 2015 season, and based on the way he treated Sio Moore, the third-year outside linebacker was never part of those plans. Moore had two standout seasons to start his career in the Bay Area, posting eight sacks and providing a playmaking spark on the field. It looks like the Indianapolis Colts will try to harness that playmaking ability, as they traded for the former UConn star yesterday.

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ESPN’s Field Yates reported that the Colts shipped a late-round pick in 2016 to the Raiders for Moore‘s services, with the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport adding that a sixth-round pick is the exact compensation.

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Colts GM Ryan Grigson is notorious for losing badly on the Trent Richardson and Jerry Hughes trades, as the former was essentially a wasted first-round pick, while the latter has morphed into one of the game’s most disruptive edge rushers (Hughes is also a solid run defender).

In this case, Grigson went from being the fleeced to the fleecer, sending a disposable pick for a young talent on a team that shouldn’t have dealt away one of its only possible building blocks on defense. Khalil Mack is a stud, T.J. Carrie is the team’s best corner, D.J. Hayden may have some hope yet, Dan Williams is a proven nose tackle, and Mario Edwards Jr. should be better than some think. But out of all those players, Moore was the third-most talented of them, and his stats in each of the past two seasons showed it.

I’ll never understand why Del Rio didn’t want to fit Moore into his system, and it’s a somewhat troubling development early on in his tenure. Of course, the “wait-and-see” approach is the most prudent thing to do here, especially since Del Rio must be high on Edwards Jr. and is poised to unleash Mack, who has been one of the best players this preseason after his stellar rookie campaign, to his full potential.

Still, you can’t help but feel that the Colts are getting an absolute steal here, especially considering their own situation on defense. Signing former Philadelphia Eagles veteran edge rusher Trent Cole was a key move, and he’s locked in as an important contributor. But even with Cole, the Colts defense still lacked pass rushing juice, particularly with Arthur Jones‘s season in doubt.

Moore isn’t the most consistent player around, and I’m not going to pretend like he’s a flawless player. He does have upside, though, and, again, has enough past production to fall back on that prevents him from being a “low floor” player. Last season, Moore had the fourth-most pressures at the 4-3 outside linebacker position with Pro Football Focus’s second-highest Pass Rushing Productivity. He also had the third-highest Run Stop% and fifth-most run stops in total at the 4-3 OLB position, notching an impressive 89 tackles.

Yet that wasn’t good enough for the Raiders. I just don’t understand Del Rio’s thought process here, and I’m not sure why he felt the unproven and penalty-prone Ray-Ray Armstrong would be the better option. Perhaps he’ll be vindicated, but let’s just say that the Raiders have left production on the table by trading Sio Moore.

However, let’s no focus on the negatives with the Raiders, because they must have had a rationale for making this decision. One such reason could be Moore’s hip injury, as he had “major surgery”, according to GM Reggie McKenzie via CSN Bay Area’s Scott Bair. Perhaps the Raiders felt like his play declined upon his return to the field this summer, so maybe this trade proves to be a little bit more of a late-round gamble than a late-round steal. Even if it’s hard for outsiders like us to conceive, maybe there’s a deeper reason here.

Whatever the case, this trade is more of a “win” for the Indianapolis Colts than a “loss” for the Oakland Raiders, particularly given the Colts’ need to upgrade their defense in the race to win a Super Bowl (especially since it could be a make-or-break year for Chuck Pagano and Grigson).

Moore is so much better than Erik Walden and Bjoern Werner already, and given his 4.65 forty, strength, and 38-inch vertical, he has the speed, strength, athleticism, and explosiveness to make a huge impact in multiple phases. At the risk of hyping up someone who was acquired for a mere sixth-round pick, Moore could be a game-changer for the Colts.

If this deal ends up being a flop for Grigson like the T-Rich and Hughes deals, then I will be absolutely floored. Moore is heading into his third season, has great tools, and has had a combined 138 tackles and five sacks in his first two years. This is the type of player you bet on, and I wonder if the Raiders will come to regret betting against him.

On the bright side, Armstrong has suddenly become an incredibly intriguing player due to Del Rio’s evident confidence in him, and the Raiders also have 2013 standout Malcolm Smith. While Smith’s 2014 season was nothing short of disappointing, it appears that he’s back on track. Veteran Curtis Lofton‘s play will be a key at the heart of the Raiders linebacking corps, but we all know that the strength of this defense lies in the defensive line comprised of Mack, Williams, underrated run-stuffer Justin Ellis, and Edwards at the other DE spot.

As for the Colts, their defense still looks pretty weak on paper, and they need to cross their fingers that Jones can at least play for some amount of time. Even if he can’t, they can take solace in the fact that the have elite CB Vontae Davis, standout coverage LB Jerrell Freeman, re-signed surprise 2014 star Mike Adams at free safety, Moore, and Cole to try and save the day with Andrew Luck and Co. backing them up.

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