Dontrell Moore’s first love when it comes to athletics has always been basketball, a sport he has played since he was four years old. When Dontrell was in the sixth grade his mother encouraged him to try playing football. He scored thirty touchdowns his first year and discovered he had talent for more than just one sport. In high school Dontrell played basketball, football, golf and ran track. He was an all-district player in basketball, but in football he was a three-time all-state player who led the state in rushing in each of his final two seasons. After leading his high school team to a state championship in 2000, Dontrell finished his high school career with over 6,000 rushing yards. In addition to being one of the best running backs in the state, he was also an all-state cornerback on defense. Not only was Dontrell an excellent athlete in high school, he was an outstanding student as well. He graduated with a 4.0 grade point average and ranked 9th in his class of 267 students. Dontrell had several offers from colleges to play basketball and football and he was heavily recruited to play football at Notre Dame. When he was snowed in and missed his visit to Notre Dame, Dontrell saw it as a sign that he should stay close to home. He never visited Notre Dame, opting to attend the University of New Mexico where he would major in criminology. He sat out the 2001 season as a redshirt and went on to set the University of New Mexico freshman rushing record with 1,134 yards in 2002. Despite being plagued by ankle and foot injuries as a sophomore, Moore rushed for 1,432 yards, breaking the school’s single season rushing record on his way to first team all-mountain west conference honors. His junior year was a year of more records broken and more injury problems. He became the Mountain West Conference’s all-time leader in career rushing yards and attempts. He also became only the second running back in University of New Mexico history and the first in 25 years to rush for 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons On September 25, 2004, Moore sprained the MCL in his left knee early on in the 2nd half against New Mexico State. On December 30, 2004, he tore his ACL in the same knee in the first quarter of the Emerald Bowl against Navy, effectively ending his season. He had surgery performed on his knee February 3, 2005 in Alabama and missed all of the spring practices recovering from the surgery. Dontrell Moore entered the 2005 season healthy and set to become only the sixth player in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons.

Dontrell Moore isn’t the biggest back in college football, but he has deceptive power running between the tackles for a player his size. He hits the hole quickly, has excellent vision, and does a good job of setting up his blockers. He has the ability to be an effective runner between the tackles or on the outside. He breaks a lot of tackles and is rarely brought down by the first defender, giving him a lot of yards after initial contact. In recent years he has worked to improve his receiving ability and his blocking technique, two areas he needed to improve on to become a complete back at the next level. He had some fumbling problems early on in his career (8 fumbles lost as a freshman), but he has done a good job of hanging on to the football the past couple years. Dontrell has a non-stop motor and an unmatched work ethic. He has proven to be an excellent leader both on and off the field. He served as team captain in 2004 and 2005 and was voted Most Valuable Player by his teammates in 02, 03, and 04. Moore’s durability could be a concern of NFL teams looking to draft him. He had minor injuries as a sophomore and two knee injuries as a junior. Dontrell is one of the most talented running backs available in the 2006 draft and should be a first day pick but he will need to prove to NFL teams that a player with 1,000 carries in college and injury problems will be durable enough to be an every down back at the professional level.