Elijah Moore will be an instant asset for the Jets rushing attack (Film)

Elijah Moore, a man who can threaten the edge, can have an immediate impact for the New York Jets in today's NFL. If someone told me pre-draft that the New York Jets were selecting a wide receiver with the 34th overall pick, I would have been furious. I was part of the group that thought the wide receiver position could be addressed later---considering the team had so many needs. I even wrote an article about eventual Seattle Seahawks’ draftee Dwayne Eskridge (who was picked in the second round at 56th overall) that projected him as a potential mid-round target for the Jets who could be the do-it-all guy early in his career and later develop into a complete wide receiver. But the Jets took a different route. Joe Douglas and company thought the value of Elijah Moore at No. 34 was too good to pass up. And now, after watching this draft unfold, I tend to agree with the decision of the Jets brass. Every selection was part of the big plan: Surround Zach Wilson with the best possible talent. In exchange, the Jets will have to sacrifice on defense. They are betting on the progress of former draft picks (Jabari Zuniga and Blake Cashman come to mind) and on the coaching staff to develop the back-end of the 2021 draft class. Who is Elijah Moore? Elijah Moore is one of the most complete receivers in the 2021 draft class. At first, he stands out as a slot guy. He is a smart and skilled route-runner who can work the middle of the field and dominate the quick game. But looking deeper, it’s easy to figure that Moore can do so much more (see what I did there?). Thanks to his blazing speed and ability to threaten defensive backs deep, he can easily line up outside. He can also be deployed in the backfield---something that may happen even more often in an offense that aims to attack the edges in the ground game. Overall, Moore is a quick and explosive player who has great hands (only 2% of his targets were dropped in 2020), is a polished route-runner, and is a threat to take the ball to the end zone on every play, which is exactly what the Jets needed. Fulfilling a need What goes under the radar is that by adding Moore the Jets addressed a need: the jet-motion, edge-threat guy. And you can’t undervalue how important that type of player is to the current Jets offensive scheme. Even though Moore has the potential to develop into a lot more than that, I'm betting that his first and foremost impact with the Jets will come via the rushing attack. The San Francisco 49ers' usage of Deebo Samuel comes to mind here. Samuel isn’t close to Moore as a route-runner, but he is an impact player on the Niners' offense even when he doesn’t touch the ball. And that, I believe, will be the initial role of Moore. Look at these few reps by Moore in the backfield. You see speed, vision, and one-cut ability. These are skills that the Jets' wide receiver group lacked and can take the team's ground game to a whole new level: Holding second-level players and backside defenders Everybody knows that Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk had big plays running the jet motion in San Francisco. They combined for 14 carries and 103 rushing yards last season. It’s also well known how fast Elijah Moore is (4.35 forty-time), and the impact he will have carrying the football. What I’m going to illustrate here is the impact that an effective, explosive wide receiver has when he’s not touching the football. Defenders are taught to react, and after an offense burns you with speed off the edge on jet motions, you will hesitate to attack downhill. And that's how offenses most easily create running room to the outside. Simply put, when running an outside zone scheme, manufacturing space is critical. So, finding ways to move defenders away from their designated hole and giving them eye candy becomes critical. Confused defenders are late defenders, and that means open spaces. The 49ers mastered that by motioning Samuel to the backside of wide zone runs. What’s important here is that you need the motioning player to be a real threat to the defense. The Jets could absolutely use Braxton Berrios as their jet-motion guy if they ended up not addressing this role in the draft, but it wouldn’t be as effective. When the guy you are motioning doesn’t possess the big-play threat, linebackers and defensive backs will stick to their gap responsibility and trust that backside players will do their job. Jets fans saw that every time Adam Gase tried to mimic backside action with Berrios or Jamison Crowder. Moore is a real threat---just like Samuel and a few other receivers on the 49ers roster. Below, I break down what putting a speedster motion was capable of doing to the defense. On this red zone play against the Saints, you can see Deebo impacting two players: Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis. Watch how their hesitation allows the running back to score. This next clip shows one of my favorite plays re: motion impact. The 49ers murdered the Panthers on the ground that day, and Samuel scored a touchdown. So, in the fourth quarter, everyone was afraid of the end around. Kendrick Bourne comes in motion here and throws all the linebackers off their spot, giving the 49ers numbers advantage on the play-side. Master design. Conclusion Player comparisons can often be misleading, so I prefer comparing roles. Elijah Moore will, at first, play the role of Deebo Samuel---the jet-motion guy---in this Jets offense. His speed and explosiveness will threaten the edge on every play, even when not touching the ball, and will help the Jets ground game from day one. What feels great is that I know Moore is so much more than that. As Michael Nania broke down, he is a complete wide receiver. He led the country in receiving yards per game on passes thrown at least 10 yards downfield (104.4). Moore possesses a much more diverse skill set than Samuel does, which should bode well for Wilson and the Jets' offense next season. Pre-draft Vitor was wrong about this one. The Elijah Moore pick does make sense, and it will help the 2021 Jets offense put points on the board.