Why this Cowboys’ rookie told Jerry Jones he was ‘the best corner in the draft’
When the Dallas Cowboys selected Florida cornerback Devin Moore in the fourth round of the draft with the No. 114 overall selection, vice president of player personnel Will McClay immediately passed the phone to owner Jerry Jones to speak with the newest draft pick.
As Jones informed Moore of the selection, the 6-foot-3, 198-pound outside corner made a bold proclamation to his new boss.
“Y’all are getting the best corner in the draft,” Moore told Jones.
Less than a week later, Moore was in the Cowboys’ facility at The Star in Frisco for his first practices with his new team in rookie minicamp. While his career at Florida was mostly blurred by injury, his healthy 2025 campaign with the Gators offered optimism for what is ahead in his career.
“I had some injuries in college,” Moore said. “I feel like that had me very overlooked and slept on. The size, the speed, ability to bend and tackle, the length, I feel like I had been overlooked ... I’m so excited. I feel like, even in college, I never played my best ball. Being somewhere where there are as many resources as there are in the world here, I’ll try and elevate my game to be the best I can be.”
Moore’s college injury history dates back to his time as a freshman when he missed eight games with a shoulder injury. As a sophomore, he missed five games with a back injury and concussion before missing five more games in 2024 with another shoulder injury. On top of that, he played his final two seasons with a groin injury that required surgery.
Now that he’s heading into the NFL, he’s looking forward to taking advantage of the resources that are available to him to stay healthy in the league in order to reach what he sees as his full potential.
“As soon as we show back up [for OTAs], the first thing I’m doing is going to the vets and asking them, ‘What’s your routine? What do you do?’ Just little things, because that’s so important in the league,” he said.
During rookie minicamp, Moore had the chance to interact and meet with his new defensive coordinator, Christian Parker. As a long outside corner that has long admired Patrick Surtain II, a former student of Parker’s with the Denver Broncos, Moore has already picked up on some wisdom from his new coach.
“It’s been amazing,” he said. “He’s taught me so many things that I needed to learn, he’s helped me elevate my game. Just being around him, he’s a great dude ... It’s a blessing to just be around these high-caliber guys and these high-caliber coaches, and to just be a Dallas Cowboy. It’s something I dreamed of my whole life. To see it come true, it’s just amazing.”
While he didn’t necessarily grow up a Cowboys fan, Moore said he admired the franchise from a distance and always dreamed of playing for a brand as big as theirs.
“It’s the star,” he said. “Anytime you see that brand, that’s the standard. They always have high-caliber players, coaches. That’s the standard. They’re the face of the league.”
