With Tyreek Hill now down in South Beach catching passes from Tua Tagovailoa, the Kansas City Chiefs have some new faces in the wide receiver room. The team signed both Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster in free agency, but a rookie is resetting expectations as training camp unfolds thanks to his what he did in college, and what he is doing in practice.
He is now earning the trust of his quarterback.
Rookie Skyy Moore is one of the players turning heads at practice, including that of Patrick Mahomes. During his meeting with the media on Friday, the quarterback talked about how Moore is earning his trust, and that of the coaching staff’s:
"He's a tough player…He's made a lot of tough, contested catches over the middle…He's getting more and more trust with the coaching staff and me, and that just comes with reps."
– Patrick Mahomes on Skyy Moore, who made a really impressive catch today
— Matt McMullen (@KCChiefs_Matt) July 29, 2022
Moore was one of the top receiver options in a deep and impressive rookie class. We graded him as one of the top 16 receivers in the draft class, and here is what we wrote about him at the time:
Moore walks into an NFL locker room as a Day One option as a slot receiver. But there is much more to his game than just a player that needs a two-way go to get separation. Moore can play on the boundary, and can play very well against press-aligned defenders. With shifty footwork off the line and a violent array of hand swipes, he can beat jams and get into his routes quickly off the line of scrimmage. Studying him I saw 24 different reps against press-aligned defenders in his games against Michigan and Pittsburgh, the toughest competition he faced this past season.
Against Pittsburgh, he caught 11 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.
This play against Northern Illinois is a prime example of how he can beat a defender off the line and establish leverage early in the down:
We will get to his player comparison in a moment, but this is the play that caused me to write down that comparison next to Moore’s name:
Even the body movement after the catch is reminiscent of this former NFL player.
But despite offering a floor as a starting slot receiver, thanks to his ability to beat press-aligned defenders Moore brings versatility to the table. Western Michigan used him along the boundary, as he saw over 500 snaps on the outside, and around 250 from the slot. Teams can use him as an outside receiver in packages, and he might have a role as a Z receiver in the NFL instead of a pure slot option.
That player comparison for those wondering? Julian Edelman.