Chiefs No. 3B Profile: TE Tony Moeaki
NAME – Tony Moeaki
BORN – June 8, 1987 in Wheaton, Illinois.
FAMILY – Son of Sione and Lose Moeaki, they are natives of the South Pacific island of Tonga.
PERSONAL STATS – 6-3 1/8, 245 pounds, 33¼-inch arms, 10 1/8-inch hands.
OTHER PERSONAL STATS – 4.69 seconds in 40-yard dash, 18 reps at 225 pounds on bench press, 34-inch vertical jump, 9-foot 5-inch broad jump.
HE SAID IT: “There are many great tight ends in the NFL right now and in the past but i think I can identify with Jason Witten and Heath Miller. I’m not saying that I’m on the same level as them but they are every down tight ends and they are good at both blocking and receiving. Hopefully one day I can play at their same level.”
HIGH SCHOOL – He was part of the Class of 2005 at Wheaton Warrenville South High School in Wheaton, Illinois.
ATHLETIC CAREER – Over his high school career with the Tigers he caught 50 passes for 975 yards and nine TDs. He played tight end, fullback and linebacker. Moeaki also won letters in basketball and tennis.
RECRUITMENT – He made recruiting visits to Brigham Young, Oregon and Tennessee as Moeaki was rated as either the first or second TE coming out of high school football. He eventually settled on Iowa.
TRAINING ROOM – He received a medical red-shirt season in 2007 after suffering a broken wrist after playing in four games … in ‘08 played in just nine games because of a concussion, hamstring and a fractured foot … in the ‘09 season he missed three games with an ankle injury.
FRESHMAN SEASON ‘05 – Played in six games during his true freshman season, catching 8 passes for 112 yards. He was part of the Hawkeyes squad that played in the Outback Bowl against Florida.
SOPHOMORE SEASON ‘06 –Moeaki played in all 13 games and was listed on the depth chart as the second-team tight end. He caught 11 passes for 140 yards and 3 TDs. He caught one pass for eight yards in the Alamo Bowl against Texas.
RED-SHIRT SEASON ‘07 – Opened the season as Iowa’s starting TE and produced 3 catches for 32 yards against Northern Illinois. Against Syracuse he caught 8 passes for 112 yards and 3 touchdowns. In game No. 4 against Wisconsin, he suffered a broken wrist and a dislocated elbow in the first quarter. The NCAA granted him a medical red-shirt season. He finished the season with 14 catches for 170 yards and 3 TDs.
JUNIOR SEASON ‘08 – Injuries plagued Moeaki again as he missed four games with a variety of ailments. In the Outback Bowl against South Carolina he had three catches for 43 yards. Moeaki caught 13 passes for 144 yards and 1 TD.
IOWA COACH KIRK FERENTZ SAID: “He’s an excellent football player, couldn’t be a better team leader or team member.”
SENIOR SEASON ‘09 – Named team captain and won the program’s Hayden Fry Award on offense, Moeaki had his best statistical season, catching 30 passes for 387 yards and 4 scores. He caught 10 passes for 83 yards against Northern Iowa and six passes for 105 yards and 2 TDs against Michigan. In the Orange Bowl against Georgia Tech, he caught four passes for 85 yards.
CHARACTER STUFF – Each season he was part of the Hawkeyes program he was named to the team’s leadership group. That includes his true freshman year of 2005 when he was just 18 years old.
HE SAID IT: “I feel like my receiving skills are just as good as my blocking. I take pride in doing both as well as I can and work hard at both aspects of my game. I love to do both and try to be the best at both blocking and receiving. I think I can bring a lot to an NFL team. I feel like I’m versatile on the football field. I played H-back also which is like a fullback and also lined up on the line at tight end. I did blocking and receiving out of the h-back position too. Off the field I can bring a lot also. I love the game. I love watching and studying football.”
EDUCATION – Recreation Management major.
Being a Hawkeyes and a Chiefs fan, I’m thrilled that KC picked up Tony. He had some injuries in his Iowa career, but really had a terrific final season with the Hawks. Good blocker, good receiver…I remember hearing/reading from his teammates that Tony was considered the best pure athlete on the team. Plus, he’s got a quiet, humble, no-nonsense personality (from what I’ve seen) that fit perfectly with the Iowa program: team-oriented, fundamentally sound, well-coached. Plays with a lot of smarts, and a lot of pride. If he stays healthy in his career, he will be a great addition for the Chiefs!
I hate players that are injury prone. They are worthless on IR. Hopefully it was just fluke incidents and he’s not. BTW Tony, the guy who used to play in your spot is also an every down player that can catch a few balls and block too.
Did some site searching on this kid. Lots of injuries, NO DOWNFIELD SPEED, cannot move a blocker. Only way to use is to put him into movement before the snap. Looks to me the NE idea of a TE every draft just shot craps like McConnel in 09. Note both times Pioli gave up extra picks to grab them.
He’s 245 lbs – I doubt he’s expected to do more than wall off his guy unless he’s up against a LB or S. I think Moeaki represents an all-around type tight end, something that Pope and Cottam haven’t been (I still hold out hope for Cottam if he fully recovers from his neck injury).
They traded picks to get an injury-prone guy who would have been there anyway.
OK, but still no DOWNFIELD SPEED, so if that makes him a “all-around type tight end” by your standard, fine by me. Think he can “wall off” Ray Lewis? Cottam’s injury make spell his end, to bad. Pope and the rest are roll players. History says the NE team loved TEs and drafted one almost every year, Pioli is following with that idea, the question is how will Haley use this influx of average talent at a position he did not use when he was a OC?
This pick was total crap, where is the NT or LB they needed?? I dont think Pioli did a good job in this draft, other then the Berry pick he didn’t grab positions of need… I hope that Edwards can become a NT this year!!
Nice selection. (just kidding) No need for Cam Thomas or anyone else that could have helped at positions of bigger need. Mr. Pope seems to have the TE position covered sufficiently.