At Miami, UAB transfer Antonio Moultrie embraces chance ‘to play at a higher level’
When Antonio Moultrie decided to transfer and join the Miami Hurricanes back in January, he was looking for a “better opportunity,” he said, and a chance “to play at a higher level.”
With the UAB Blazers, he was something close to a star — a second-team all-Conference USA selection in 2020 and an honorable mention last year — and the path to success was hard earned. It started with Moultrie as a two-star prospect at Pensacola West Florida, took him to a junior college at Eastern Mississippi Community College in Scooba and even required a redshirt season once he finally got to UAB, and then shoulder surgery after he transferred to Miami, keeping him out for the spring season.
Now on the field for the Hurricanes, Moultrie is getting the sort of chance he longed for.
“Everything is intense, everything is fast paced,” Moultrie said. “Everything about it is on a higher level, which is where I want it to be.”
Where exactly Moultrie fits in with Miami still isn’t totally clear because it’s not really clear for any of the defensive linemen. The Hurricanes added five defensive linemen through the transfer portal, two elite edge rushing recruits and brought back four other significant contributors along the line — there are legitimately 10-plus linemen vying for playing time this season.
Moultrie, who had 33 tackles as a defensive tackle in 2020 and then moved to linebacker and piled up 62 more, is back working primarily at defensive tackle, which is where he found his most success in Birmingham, Alabama.
“He’s explosive and he’s got a lot of quick twitch, and he’s a big body,” fellow defensive lineman Jacob Lichtenstein said.
At 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds, Moultrie was a jumbo-sized linebacker. Now he’s the ideal size to play defensive tackle in a 4-3 defense and should play some role on Miami’s defensive line.
“This school is at a high level,” Moultrie said. “I played a high level, and I’m glad to be here.”
Five make Senior Bowl list
The Senior Bowl is one of the key postseason showcases for prospects ahead of the NFL Draft and organizers each year put out a preseason watch list of players it’ll be monitoring in the upcoming season.
This year, five Hurricanes are on the list.
Tight end Will Mallory, tackle Zion Nelson, defensive lineman Mitchell Agude, and cornerbacks Tyrique Stevenson and DJ Ivey all made the 10th annual addition of the list as prospects to watch ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Mallory and Nelson are perhaps the top two prospects on Miami’s current roster, and both could be early-round picks in the 2023 Draft, with Nelson even occasionally popping up in the first round of mock drafts. Stevenson is also an interesting prospect after he was an all-Atlantic Coast Conference honorable mention last year, while Agude and Ivey both have the physical traits — they’re 6-5 and 6-1, respectively — to become Draft prospects with a strong 2022 season.
Juniors and Draft-eligible underclassmen like quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, running back Jaylan Knighton and defensive lineman Jared Harrison-Hunte are not eligible for the Senior Bowl, which is only open to players who have been in college for four-plus years.
