Defensive end Jarvis Moss will be taking a couple of steps back.

Now that the Broncos will use more of a 3-4 defensive alignment, Moss, the Broncos' first-round pick in the 2007 draft, has learned he'll be moving to outside linebacker in Mike Nolan's new scheme.

"They feel like it could be good for Jarvis, because he hasn't put on the weight you would expect a defensive end to have. And he's athletic enough to do it," Moss' agent, Pat Dye Jr., said on Friday. "My sense is, he'll be an outside linebacker and a big pass rusher, primarily."

The team previously had alerted Elvis Dumervil of the possibility of making the transition from a down lineman to a stand-up defender.

Moss has vowed to add 10 pounds this offseason while working with a nutritionist and strength coaches in Gainesville, Fla. But he has had difficulty moving north of the 255 pounds he carried at season's end.

The key challenge for Moss in his new position will be proving he can backpedal and turn in coverage. In the past, he has dropped periodically in zone- blitz situations.

"We actually did some of that before the draft because the 3- 4 teams obviously didn't see him as a defensive end in a 3-4 scheme," Dye said. "So the 3-4 teams put him through linebacker drills and he did fine.

"He's plenty athletic. My hope was, at this point, he'd weigh 265, 270 and be a prototypical defensive end, but that hasn't happened. So this could kind of be a rebirth for him."