How did Skyy Moore fall to us?

[Direckshun]

Largely size concerns, it seems:

The 2022 NFL Draft was another strong year for wide receiver talent, and many assumed that a run on wide receivers would happen in the first round. That panned out with the Falcons taking Drake London at No. 8 and three other receivers were taken over the next four picks. The levee breaking on wideouts led to Jahan Dotson ending up as the 16th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, and some analysts thought Western Michigan's Skyy Moore would go late in the first round thanks to the run on receivers.

Moore was superb throughout 2021, hauling in 95 passes for 1,292 yards and 10 touchdowns. The junior also worked out well before the 2022 NFL Draft. Hence, there were some projecting him to the opening night of the draft, so some were surprised when he slid to late in the second round.

NFL team sources actually had Moore graded lower than the media hype. Some teams had him graded in the second round and others had him in Round 3. They saw some limitations with his size and thought Moore (5-10, 196) could have problems with longer cornerbacks as a pro. Thus, teams did not see a real slide with Moore.

The Kansas City Chiefs ended Moore's slide, and they are a mixed landing spot for him. On the plus side, Moore landed with an elite quarterback in Pat Mahomes and a great coaching staff led by future Hall of Fame Andy Reid. On the negative side, Moore is in a crowded depth chart, as the Chiefs have established veterans like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman and Josh Gordon. Due to the a second-round pick investment in him, Moore is assured of making the roster, but he could have a hard time breaking out in an offense that spreads the ball around and features tight end Travis Kelce. Moore will have to earn his playing time, but if he can break through to a starting job, he could turn into a very productive pro operating with Mahomes and Reid.

[AdolfOliverBush]

Yeah, let's hope Josh Gordon's presence on the roster isn't too big a hurdle for Moore to overcome.

[The Franchise]

On the negative side, Moore is in a crowded depth chart, as the Chiefs have established veterans like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman and Josh Gordon.

What is this garbage? Crowded depth chart? Hardman is a gadget player on his last year. MVS is basically a deep threat. Gordon is nothing.

[DJ's left nut]

NFL team sources actually had Moore graded lower than the media hype. Some teams had him graded in the second round and others had him in Round 3. They saw some limitations with his size and thought Moore (5-10, 196) could have problems with longer cornerbacks as a pro. Thus, teams did not see a real slide with Moore.

Huh.

Y'don't say?

Again - pay attention to what they do, not what they say. If Veach saw Skyy Moore the way his most ardent supporters see him, there's no way he trades back from 50 and risks losing him.

I suspect Veach also saw him as a late 2nd, early 3rd caliber player in an ordinary draft. He also seemed to believe that he was at the end of a tier and that the market had pushed WR talent up.

Guess we'll find out...

[tmax63]

Contrary to the belief, not everyone in the NFL sports world thinks KC's receivers are as big a pile of dogshit as the people here do. World beaters no but not nearly as bad as someone would think after reading the opinions around here.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by tmax63

Contrary to the belief, not everyone in the NFL sports world thinks KC's receivers are as big a pile of dogshit as the people here do. World beaters no but not nearly as bad as someone would think after reading the opinions around here.

I don't think they're dogshit by any means....but to say that Moore doesn't have a spot because of a guy like Josh Gordon? That's a pretty asinine take.

[RunKC]

He played at a smaller school and wasn’t 6+ ft with a huge wingspan.

I’d still take him over Pickens today. I just saw too much of the raw game from Pickens that I saw in Conley and Hardman. Cool he’s big and has good hands. But his route running is not there and he’s a long strider who probably won’t have great lateral speed.

I think Veach knew we had Juju and MVS as our big bodied receivers but needed to get a fundamental reliable player who can sell routes and catch the ball. Especially against cover 2 shell.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

I don't think they're dogshit by any means....but to say that Moore doesn't have a spot because of a guy like Josh Gordon? That's a pretty asinine take.

Yeah, bringing up Gordon there was silly. Dude isn’t even a JAG anymore

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by RunKC

He played at a smaller school and wasn’t 6+ ft with a huge wingspan.

I’d still take him over Pickens today. I just saw too much of the raw game from Pickens that I saw in Conley and Hardman. Cool he’s big and has good hands. But his route running is not there and he’s a long strider who probably won’t have great lateral speed.

I think Veach knew we had Juju and MVS as our big bodied receivers but needed to get a fundamental reliable player who can sell routes and catch the ball. Especially against cover 2 shell.

I actually thought that from a technical perspective Pickens was a MORE polished route-runner than Moore.

Moore just has faster feet and was beating significantly inferior DBs.

I understand shying away from Pickens due to the attitude and even productivity concerns. But froma pure tools standpoint, I didn't see anything that Pickens lacked. I mean if you're going to shy away from Pickens because of a lack of lateral agility, then you're just taking any WR over 6'1'' off your board because he was certainly no worse than any other WR in this draft with plus size when it came to that sort of movement.

Pickens problem is between his ears but from a pure talent perspective, he's as intriguing as anyone in this draft, including a healthy Jameson Williams.

[staylor26]

@ taking anything from Walter Football as gospel

[JPH83]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I actually thought that from a technical perspective Pickens was a MORE polished route-runner than Moore.

Moore just has faster feet and was beating significantly inferior DBs.

I understand shying away from Pickens due to the attitude and even productivity concerns. But froma pure tools standpoint, I didn't see anything that Pickens lacked. I mean if you're going to shy away from Pickens because of a lack of lateral agility, then you're just taking any WR over 6'1'' off your board because he was certainly no worse than any other WR in this draft with plus size when it came to that sort of movement.

Pickens problem is between his ears but from a pure talent perspective, he's as intriguing as anyone in this draft, including a healthy Jameson Williams.

Maybe. I liked Pickens because he just does something better than anyone we've had in awhile - namely getting late separation. He wins at the opposite, and more valuable, end of the route to Moore. But I also don't know that translates more reliably.

So it depends what you think "better route runner" means. If shiftiness to gain early separation is it, Moore is better, for me. If it's subtle physicality late in the route to gain sepatation, Pickens is your guy.

But if the question is Pickens tools - speed is not his strength. He can get late separation but he also needs to, because he's never burning anyone. He's also absolutely not as elusive a runner as Moore is. Obviously he'd never be used that way, but I guess that's the point. Moore might not have the high end, deep catches, but he can get you yards from anywhere.

[DJ's left nut]

I just think Pickens is taking some heat for simply being a Georgia WR.

Too many of those guys have come out simply not knowing how to play the position. That's not him. As you noted, he demonstrates some of those in-route technical skills that allow him to get separation downfield. That's a skill, IMO, that is FAR harder to find than the foot fires that Moore uses.

But he was never dominant in college and so the narrative became "well he's another Georgia WR that can't run routes" and that's simply not accurate. He can. He's been able to do that since he arrived on campus. He's a pretty damn polished guy when he's engaged.

I just think had he gone someplace like Oklahoma he'd bee seen as more akin to a guy like Cee Dee Lamb than the kinda lazy Chris Conley sort of comps being thrown his way. Route running isn't his problem. Top end speed and simple focus/football savvy are.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Too many of those guys have come out simply not knowing how to play the position.

Which makes Skyy even more intriguing. He’s played football for 3 years and already has excellent route running ability with great hands. Keep in mind this kid didn’t go to a big school. He didn’t learn from elite coaches.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I just think had he gone someplace like Oklahoma he'd bee seen as more akin to a guy like Cee Dee Lamb than the kinda lazy Chris Conley sort of comps being thrown his way. Route running isn't his problem. Top end speed and simple focus/football savvy are.

If Skyy went to OU with Lincoln Riley I bet he’s a first rd pick. Hollywood Brown is faster but he’s a tiny player. Skyy never played for a team like Georgia

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Which makes Skyy even more intriguing. He’s played football for 3 years and already has excellent route running ability with great hands. Keep in mind this kid didn’t go to a big school. He didn’t learn from elite coaches.



If Skyy went to OU with Lincoln Riley I bet he’s a first rd pick. Hollywood Brown is faster but he’s a tiny player. Skyy never played for a team like Georgia

Except that Skyy couldn't get OU's attention. Or any other Power 5 school's. So there are real questions about how some of his film really translates. That's what I think keeps getting overlooked. Of COURSE he's going to look dynamic against teams in the Sun Belt. It's gonna look a lot easier piling on yards against Buffalo than it did when he went 2/22 against Michigan.

Meanwhile Pickens went to a team easily on par w/ Oklahoma in the sports top conference and was considered a massive recruit throughout the process.

Granted, that's not dispositive, but it's another data point. There's actually a surprisingly strong relationship between recruiting rankings and future NFL production.

Skyy never played for a team like Georgia, even during the 'free transfer period', because a team like Georgia wasn't interested in him. If he went to OU maybe he's just an undersized 2-star recruit (so maybe a priority walk-on) that simply never saw the field at all. It's every bit as likely as him being a 1st rounder.

[GloucesterChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Except that Skyy couldn't get OU's attention. Or any other Power 5 school's. So there are real questions about how some of his film really translates. That's what I think keeps getting overlooked. Of COURSE he's going to look dynamic against teams in the Sun Belt. It's gonna look a lot easier piling on yards against Buffalo than it did when he went 2/22 against Michigan.

Meanwhile Pickens went to a team easily on par w/ Oklahoma in the sports top conference and was considered a massive recruit throughout the process.

Granted, that's not dispositive, but it's another data point. There's actually a surprisingly strong relationship between recruiting rankings and future NFL production.

Skyy never played for a team like Georgia, even during the 'free transfer period', because a team like Georgia wasn't interested in him. If he went to OU maybe he's just an undersized 2-star recruit (so maybe a priority walk-on) that simply never saw the field at all. It's every bit as likely as him being a 1st rounder.

Eh big schools miss talent all the time.