Riley Moss (born March 3, 2000) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

, and was a two-time All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

selection. Moss was selected by the Broncos in the third round of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

Early life

Moss grew up in

Ankeny, Iowa Ankeny (, ) is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States and a suburb of the state capital of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, as part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Ankeny ...

and attended

Ankeny Centennial High School Ankeny Centennial High School (ACHS) is a state school, public high school in Ankeny, Iowa, United States, serving grades 10 through 12 and opened in 2013. It is one of two high schools in the Ankeny Community School District. History Ankeny Cen ...

, where he played football and ran track. He originally committed to play

at North Dakota State entering his senior season. As a senior, Moss caught six passes for 167 and a touchdown on offense and had 29 tackles and an interception on defense. Moss decommitted from North Dakota State and committed to play at

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

after receiving a late offer.

College career

Moss joined the Iowa Hawkeyes as a blue-shirt recruit and was awarded a scholarship after the end of his freshman season. He was named the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

freshman of the week after intercepting two passes against

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. As a junior, Moss had 43 tackles with four passes broken up and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, and was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection. He returned two interceptions for touchdowns against

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

in the first game of his senior season. Moss missed three games after suffering a torn

posterior cruciate ligament The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is a ligament in each knee of humans and various other animals. It works as a counterpart to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). It connects the posterior intercondylar area of the tibia to the Medial condyl ...

in Iowa's 23-20 win over fourth-ranked

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

Professional career

Moss was selected by the

in the third round, 83rd overall, of the

. As a rookie, he appeared in 14 games. Prior to the 2024 season, Moss was named the Broncos' second starting cornerback opposite

Patrick Surtain II Patrick Frank Surtain II ( ; born April 14, 2000) is an American professional American football, football cornerback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide football, ...

. He started his first game in Week 1 against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

, becoming the first

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

player to start at the cornerback position in an NFL game since Jason Sehorn in 2003. In the fourth quarter of the Broncos' Week 3 game against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

, Moss forced a fumble off tight end

Cade Otton Cade Otton (born April 15, 1999) is an American professional American football, football tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played college football for the Washington Huskies football, Was ...

, which safety Brandon Jones recovered and returned for 34 yards. In Week 5 against the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

, Moss recorded his first career interception off a pass from Gardner Minshew, becoming the first white cornerback to record an interception since Sehorn in 2002.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bioIowa Hawkeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Riley 2000 births Living people People from Ankeny, Iowa Sportspeople from Polk County, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa American football cornerbacks Iowa Hawkeyes football players Denver Broncos players