Marquee wide receivers in the NFL tend to come in two types. Either they’re loud and flamboyant like Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham, or they’re quiet and let their game do the talking like Julio Jones or A.J. Green. The Panthers definitely have the latter in D.J. Moore, who is entering his fourth year in the NFL.
Even though Moore has posted two straight 1,100 receiving yard seasons, he’s still not getting a lot of attention at the national level. For example, he was recently left off Pro Football Focus’ list of the top 32 receivers in the league. Nevertheless, Moore seems content to stay low key, work his craft in silence and not get too up or down at any given point. Here’s how he explained his level-headed mentality, per Darin Gantt at the team website.
“Being in the spotlight, some people are always on, and some people are laid back and know when it’s time to go. . . At no point in my career have I been overly excited about something, or too hard on myself about something. I always stay even-keeled, no matter what, because you can’t get too big in moments, and you can’t get too low when bad stuff happens. That’s where the even-keeledness comes in.”
Smart stuff.
If Moore’s game continues to grow at the pace it has since he entered the leauge, eventually it will be impossible to ignore him.
Unfortunately, it’s not all on Moore to get there. He’ll need more help from his quarterbacks in order to reach that next level in his career. The chemistry he had with previous starter Teddy Bridgewater bordered on the atrocious at times. If Sam Darnold can get into a better rhythm with Moore, it should provide a huge boost for what was an already potent passing offense.
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