Green Bay Packers beat writer Paul Imig will be analyzing the 25 most important players to the Packers' success in the 2013 season. Check back each day to see the latest player on the list.
Note: This is not a list of the team's 25 best players or a series about past success, but rather which of them means the most to how Green Bay will fare this year. Criteria such as depth at that player's position, general expectations and overall importance of that player having a good season are all highly considered.
24 (turns 25 in January 2014) / Second NFL season
With the offseason departures of outside linebackers Erik Walden and Frank Zombo, the Packers are putting a lot of faith in Moses. Though he won't be expected to win a starting job over Clay Matthews or 2012 first-round pick Nick Perry, Moses needs to be the reliable top backup to both of them. Matthews missed four games last season and Perry was on injured reserve by Week 7. So, while it's possible that Matthews and Perry both have injury-free seasons in 2013, counting on that to happen would be a mistake.
That's why Moses will need to be a significant factor for Green Bay to be successful this upcoming season. He's the safety net behind Matthews and Perry. If Moses struggles, the Packers now have very little depth behind him.
This No. 24 ranking for Moses is also indicative of his talent level. If it wasn't for his public intoxication arrest while in college at Iowa that got him suspended for four games, along with his subsequent transfer to a much smaller Tulane program, Moses could have easily been a mid-to-late-round draft pick. He's a good player who will serve an important role this season.
As a rookie last season, Moses was one of many relatively unknown players who joined the Packers as an undrafted free agent. Once he emerged from that group and made the 53-man active roster, the expectations on him to make an impact were still very low. Anything that Moses did beyond making the team was simply a bonus for Green Bay. He ended up contributing fairly well by starting six games, recording four sacks and forcing one fumble.
Expectations on Moses in 2013 are much higher. If he starts any games, however, that would be a bad thing for the Packers because it means Perry is underperforming or that Perry or Matthews got injured. But Matthews and Perry can't play every snap, even if healthy. Moses will have a role as the backup there, but he also needs to give defensive coordinator Dom Capers good reason to use him in a couple of the sub-packages.
Moses won't be expected to be an every-down player in Green Bay this season, so the best thing that he can do for the team is to find a specialty. Can he be a great pass-rusher? Can he become a very reliable run-stopper? Last season, the data collected and analyzed by ProFootballFocus.com wasn't kind to Moses, grading him out in the negative in both categories. Moses will need to be more dependable than that in 2013.
Making the team is no longer a positive development for Moses. That's become the expectation. Now he needs to take the next step and be an improving asset for the Packers.
If Moses struggles in his second NFL season, the best option behind him is rookie Nate Palmer, a sixth-round pick out of Illinois State. Palmer profiles as a designated pass rusher and should have a role on the team this season either way. But Palmer would also likely be the first to elevate up the depth chart in the event that Moses falters.
The only other outside linebackers currently on Green Bay's roster are undrafted rookies Donte Savage, Andy Mulumba and Jarvis Wilson (recent name change to Jarvis Reed). That lack of proven depth at the position shows just how important Moses will be to the Packers in 2013. It also demonstrates just how much Green Bay's front office believed in him when letting Walden and Zombo walk in free agency this offseason.
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