Top 10 wide receivers in the 2021 NFL Draft

#8 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Elijah Moore (Ole Miss)

5’ 9”, 185 pounds; JR

Elijah Moore

Just outside the top 200 overall recruits in 2018, Elijah Moore recorded about 400 yards and two TDs as a freshman. He more than doubled those numbers, with 67 catches for 850 yards and six TDs in his second season.

His numbers completely exploded in year three in Lane Kiffin’s explosive offense, as he caught 86 passes for just under 1200 yards and eight scores in only eight games, earning consensus All-American accolades.

Moore presents quick acceleration off the line and can bend off either foot very well. This is one of those rare guys, who is actually top-tier quick and fast. He shows a ton of toughness, going over the middle and taking some big hits from linebackers even, as well as the concentration to hold onto the ball with somebody in his hip-pocket or coming over the top on a slant late.

Moore has a really good feel for settling against zone coverage and he helps out his quarterback immensely, with the way he continues to look for space and works back towards the passer. And he adjusts his routes on the fly a lot depending on how coverages change post-snap, showing great awareness for the field overall.

You see him make a bunch of catches curling up along the seams, as the safeties play way off. On deep in-breaking routes, Moore does a great job of widening the safety in two-high shells with the way he stems it and opens up space over the middle that way. At the same time, he beat guys vertically down the hashes quite a bit as well and when he has a safety coming over, trying to take his head off, he braces himself for contact and holds onto the ball.

The way he sets up double-moves with committing his eyes and hips is absolutely beautiful. And he can change up his footwork to support that. According to PFF, Moore had a step or more of separation on 90 percent of his targets last season, which is the highest number of any receiver in this class.

Moore was by far the most reliable player on that Ole Miss offense last season and he has such natural, sticky hands, while playing without gloves. He caught an absurd 86 of 101 targets this past season. He had two drops on those and 10 on 200 catchable targets in his career.

You see him make multiple one-handed grabs behind the line of scrimmage, as the quarterback flips it out there as the outlet receiver, and the ball seems to stick to his palm. The Rebels’ quarterback Matt Corral heavily relied on number eight on third downs and big situations, because he would make plays for him. Moore was the focal point of the Ole Miss offense, running screens, jet sweeps and as a YAC weapon, where he instantly gets upfield once he secures the catch and puts in work.

But he also shined with the awareness for a defender coming from the back on hook routes, spinning the other way and finding the next defender. With the ball in his hands, he is shifty, deceptive with head-fakes and he has much better balance to stay on his feet and slip out of the grasp of tacklers than you would expect for his size.

Overall, Moore broke 18 tackles this past season and he routinely got that extra yard or two, as he avoided a head-on collision and just got pulled down at his feet. And therefore, he also was used to bind defenders, running bubbles on the backside or threaten the edges with fake sweeps, to open up room on the inside. As a bonus, while it won’t be a huge part of his game, 11 contested catches at 5’9” is pretty darn impressive.

With that being said, Moore is pretty much a pure slot receiver at the next level, already with less than 150 career snaps out wide. And he faced press on just 38 snaps all of last season. Moore simply doesn’t have the functional strength to be an asset as a blocker and he doesn’t necessarily throw his whole body into it either.

A lot of his production came on manufactured touches and he got plenty of opportunities in a spread-oriented offense, where he got to see a lot of free grass. Maybe above all, his future NFL team will have to make sure he is mature enough to be a true professional.

He had a really stupid moment at the end of the 2019 season against in-state rival Mississippi State, when he did he Odell Beckham Jr. peeing-dog impersonation in the end-zone after scoring what could have been a game-tying touchdown, but with the PAT being pushed back and missed in the process, they lost the contest.

Obviously, I can’t speak on the maturity of this young man, even if that one act was just dumb. Rather I evaluate what he does on the field. While I do believe Moore will exclusively line up in the slot at the next level and won’t be as highly sought after by teams that don’t run as much 11 personnel as some others, in that role, he could be a chain-mover from day one.

He can win underneath and downfield; he is tough, has great hands and he is shifty after the catch. He could easily lead all rookies in receptions this upcoming season, if he joins the right team.