Tag: elijah moore

Updated 7-round Saints mock draft with finalized picks order

The New Orleans Saints have eight picks to work with in the 2021 NFL draft, and our latest mock draft starts by lucking into QB Trey Lance.

The NFL finally released its full order of selections in the 2021 NFL draft, so it’s time for an updated Saints mock draft — covering eight picks in seven rounds. To come up with something at least sort of realistic, I simulated a full run with the Draft Network mock draft machine, making my picks for the Saints with input from followers on Twitter while letting the website’s A.I. automatically sort the rest. Here’s what I came up with:

Colts select WR Elijah Moore in CBS mock draft

Colts grab Elijah Moore in a new mock.

The Indianapolis Colts will be entering the 2021 offseason looking to add some explosiveness to the wide receiver room, which means Elijah Moore could be on their radar.

In the latest mock draft from CBS Sports, the Colts used the No. 21 pick to grab Moore out of Ole Miss, hoping to bring in more explosiveness for new quarterback Carson Wentz.

Fixing Wentz’s mechanics and confidence in the pocket will come first and foremost. After that, the Colts have to get pieces around him that will help him succeed. Getting pieces in the YAC game will help immensely.

Moore is coming into the draft after a strong senior season. He recorded 86 receptions for 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns. Player Profiler has Moore listed with a 19.4 breakout age, which would put him in the 83rd percentile.

The biggest knock on Moore is his height. Listed at 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, he’s going to be in the slot almost exclusively. With Michael Pittman Jr. on the outside, it may be tough to see the Colts using a first-round pick on a slot receiver.

It’s hard to see Chris Ballard using a first-round pick on a wide receiver regardless given his history at the position, but the need is pretty high for the Colts this offseason.

Moore is an electric player with height concerns and if he falls to the second round, the Colts could be all over it.

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Elijah Moore could be a sneaky good option for Giants in 2021 NFL draft

Ole Miss wide receiver Elijah Moore could be a sneaky good option for the New York Giants to target after Round 1 of the 2021 NFL draft.

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It’s no secret the New York Giants will be seeking to augment their receiving corps this offseason whether it be via free agency or through the NFL draft.

In free agency, the big prizes are Chicago’s Allen Robinson, Ju-Ju Smith Schuster of Pittsburgh, Detroit’s Kenny Golladay and Tampa Bay’s Chris Godwin among others.

In the draft, LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase and Alabama’s dynamic duo of Devonta Smith and Jaylon Waddle are the big names certain to come off the board in the top half of the first round, as well as Florida tight end Kyle Pitts.

One name that is not being included in this with list is Elijah Moore of Ole Miss. He’s being glossed over, and there’s a team out there that will get a draft steal while the others clamor for those other players.

Moore may be getting pushed to second — and third — rounds of mock drafts due to his size (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) and age (20), but his numbers and highlight reel are hard to ignore. Just read the first paragraph of his bio on the Ole Miss football website…

Earned first team consensus All-America accolades (Walter Camp, AFCA, Associated Press, Sporting News) after historic and shortened 2020 junior season … Played in and started eight games at wide receiver before elected to forgo the remaining games of his Rebel football career in order to begin preparation for the 2021 NFL Draft … Hauled in a school record 86 receptions for 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns during his last season in a Rebel uniform … Led the country in receiving yards per game (149.1) and receptions per game (10.8) … His 1,193 receiving yards were the most ever by an SEC player through the first eight of the seasons.

That’s a mouthful, yet many draftniks still have Moore ranked as a Day 2, possibly early Day 3 selection. Tony Pauline of Pro football Network ranks Moore 65th overall on his draft board. That’s the first pick in the third round for all of you counting. Here’s a reel of some of Moore’s top plays from 2020:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on0FisUOvu0

The Giants did well with a kid named Elisha from Ole Miss in 2004. Maybe they can do the same with this Elijah kid. Everyone’s looking for the next Tyreek Hill. Could this be him? The Giants have the 11th pick in Round 1. That might be too early for Moore but No. 42 may not be and No. 76 could be too late.

If the Giants grab Pitts at No. 11 and Moore at No. 42, they will have a nice double bang with a long, athletic tight end and a shifty, productive, big-play wideout. With Ole Miss having a recent solid track record of producing NFL-quality receivers (D.K. Metcalf, A.J. Brown), there’s no reason for the Giants to shy away from Moore in the NFL draft this year.

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Titans address offense in Pro Football Focus’ latest mock draft

Pro Football Focus is boldly going where no Titans mock draft has gone before in 2021.

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So far this offseason, we’ve seen mock drafts mostly peg edge rushers to the Tennessee Titans with the exception of one that had the team selecting a cornerback in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft.

Now, for the first time in any mock drafts we’ve covered, there’s one that has the Titans going with a wide receiver at No. 22 overall.

The mock comes from Pro Football Focus’ Michael Renner, who sees the Titans taking Ole Miss wide receiver Elijah Moore in the first round.

Before we get to why this does or doesn’t make sense, here’s what Renner had to say about the selection:

With Corey Davis likely out the door, the Titans won’t have a quality No. 2 alongside A.J. Brown. If defenses aren’t forced to respect any other receiving option, it’s going to severely limit the Titans’ downfield passing offense. Moore has the explosiveness to threaten downfield early in his career and is tough over the middle of the field — he went 9-of-11 in contested situations last year.

Clearly Renner is basing his decision on Davis not returning, so there is some logic here. Still, with so many needs on defense, we’d expect the Titans to prioritize that side of the ball first, even if the former No. 5 overall pick leaves.

As we’ve seen in the past, the Titans can still find an impact player at wide receiver in the second round or later (see: A.J. Brown) and free agency is a better option to fill the No. 2 receiver role seeing as how the team needs an immediate impact that rookies don’t always provide.

Now, that’s not to say that Moore isn’t an intriguing prospect who grabs our attention, although we’re not sure he’s worthy of being taken at No. 22 overall.

A former teammate of A.J. Brown, Moore totaled 1,193 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in eight games in 2020, and he brings some speed and explosiveness with him to the next level.

The down side is that Moore (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) lacks the size that Davis brings to the table, and he profiles as more of a slot receiver than anything else.

Granted, Tennessee might need a replacement there if Adam Humphries gets cut and Moore could also fill the team’s need for a deep threat, but those aren’t things the Titans should be addressing in the first round of the draft.

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Biggest pregame storylines to keep track of ahead of LSU-Ole Miss

LSU could be without two key offensive stars against Ole Miss on Saturday as Max Johnson is set to start at quarterback for the Tigers.

LSU hosts Ole Miss inside Tiger Stadium at 2:30 pm CST on Saturday in its final game of the year, coming off a thrilling 37-34 upset over No.7 Florida last weekend.

While Ole Miss can put up yards and score points, the LSU defense has also played well as of late. While the outlook for LSU was dismal before the victory in The Swamp, the Tigers are now considered slight favorites over the Rebels as they seek a second consecutive win.

Here’s a look into the biggest pregame storylines ahead of Saturday’s matchup:

Max Johnson to likely start at QB

LSU freshman quarterback Max Johnson will likely start against the Rebels under center.

After an impressive game at Florida in which he passed for 239 yards and three touchdowns, Johnson could earn his second ever start.

Last week, Tigers fans got a glimpse of the future with Johnson. He looked poised in the pocket with every throw and led the Tigers to a big time win.

Should he earn the start, the coaching staff has enough confidence in Johnson to get the job done against the 4-4 Rebels.

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Someone submitted Ole Miss’ Egg Bowl penalty as an option for Mississippi’s new state flag

We have a winner.

Back in late June, the Mississippi legislature voted to remove the state flag, which had featured the confederate battle emblem for 126 years. And in the month since that historic vote, the state has opened up the design process of a new state flag to the people of Mississippi.

On Monday, more than 2,000 design submissions were released by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The rules stipulated that submissions could not include confederate imagery, and the words “In God We Trust” must be part of the design. Other than that, it was basically fair game.

And I think we can stop the search now because we’ve found a surefire winner.

You may remember the wild ending to the 2019 Egg Bowl (the Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry game) where Ole Miss receiver Elijah Moore mimicked a peeing dog to celebrate a late touchdown to bring Ole Miss within a point of tying. Moore was hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty, forcing a longer extra-point try, which was missed. Ole Miss lost, 21-20.

Well, someone wanted that image to be the new state flag of Mississippi. The designer ever added some rainbow text straight out of first-generation Microsoft Word.

Sure, it might be easy to dismiss that submission as a joke, but it’s an objective improvement over the flag that represented the state of Mississippi for 126 years. I wouldn’t rule it out.

You can check out all the submissions here.

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Here’s a look at the SEC’s best receivers from each school and how they rank

This 3rd installment in our Gators Wire original series will attempt to rank the likely No. 1 wide receiver for every member school in fall.

After previously examining each Southeastern Conference program’s projected quarterback and lead tailback entering the 2020 season, this third installment in our Gators Wire original series will attempt to rank the likely No. 1 wide receiver for every member school this fall.

Featuring high-powered offenses throughout the league’s 14 teams, the conference had nine wideouts selected in the 2020 National Football League Draft, meaning there will be some big names to replace and opportunities for returning players to step into larger roles.

The Florida Gators had three receivers chosen in the draft, the most of any SEC program, with Van Jefferson coming off the board at No. 57 to the Los Angeles Rams, Freddie Swain at No. 214 to the Seattle Seahawks, and Tyrie Cleveland at No. 252 to the Denver Broncos, the fourth-to-last overall selection.

Three of the league’s wideouts went in the first-round, headed by Alabama Crimson Tide standout Henry Ruggs III to the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 12. His teammate, Jerry Jeudy, followed shortly behind, selected by the Broncos at No. 15, and Justin Jefferson of the LSU Tigers was plucked by the Minnesota Vikings at No. 22.

NEXT: No. 14 Josh Ali – Kentucky Wildcats

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Stunningly stupid act wrecks Ole Miss in Egg Bowl

Ole Miss WR Elijah Moore’s foolish celebration cost Ole Miss a chance to tie the Egg Bowl.

Ole Miss overcame a fourth-and-24 and numerous other hurdles to close within 21-20 in the waning seconds of the Egg Bowl Thursday. Elijah Moore caught the short TD pass to bring the Rebels within one of the arch-rival Bullodgs.

And then, Moore, a sophomore wide receiver, decided to play the fool in the end zone and wound up costing his team the game.

Moore started acting like a dog and lifted his leg, like he was urinating.

The official near the selfish celebration threw a flag and … that turned into a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Moore. More importantly, it moved the PAT attempt back 15 yards.

Ole Miss kicker Luke Logan missed the PAT and Mississippi State had a 21-20 victory And no one would blame the Ole Miss team and their faithful if they were, um, peeved. Extra peeved, too, because the victory makes the Bulldogs bowl eligible while the Rebels sink to 4-8.