New York Jets statistical scouting report: Elijah Moore

New York Jets WR Elijah Moore is more than a “gadget guy,” as he offers star potential at every level of the field.

Athletic profile

Despite being undersized at 5′ 9½” and 178 pounds, Elijah Moore possesses an impressive athletic profile, showcasing a blend of long speed, short-area quickness, and strength at his pro day.

Here are Moore’s pro day numbers and their percentile ranks among wide receivers in Combine history (since 2000):

• Wingspan: 71¾” (8th percentile)
• Arm length: 30⅛” (8th)
• Hand size: 9⅜” (50th)
• 10-yard split: 1.57 seconds (51st)
• 20-yard split: 2.57 seconds (67th)
• 40-yard dash: 4.35 seconds (92nd)
• Vertical jump: 36 inches (57th)
• Broad jump: 121 inches (53rd)
• 3-cone drill: 6.67 seconds (91st)
• 20-yard shuttle: 4.00 seconds (93rd)
• Bench press: 17 reps (71st)

Moore’s combined excellence in the forty, three-cone, and bench press is extremely rare. In Combine history, he is one of only three wide receivers to post a forty time under 4.4, a three-cone time under 6.7, and at least 15 bench press reps. The only other two: Julio Jones and now-teammate Denzel Mims.

Another interesting aspect of Moore’s physical profile is that he has unusually large mitts for his size. Moore’s 178-pound frame ranks at the 5th percentile among wide receivers, but his 9⅜-inch hands are perfectly average, ranking at the 50th percentile. As we’ll see later on, this unique trait certainly translated to improved on-field production when it came to securing the ball.

Role/usage

As a true junior in 2020, Moore ran 79.8% of his routes from the slot and 20.2% from the outside. That was a substantial increase in versatility compared to his first two seasons, when he ran 98.7% of his routes from the slot.

Moore is dangerous no matter where he lines up. Here’s a comparison of his numbers in 2020:

• Slot: 269 routes, 61 catches, 71 targets, 888 yards (12.5 yds/target, 3.30 yds/route)
• Outside: 68 routes, 25 catches, 30 targets, 305 yards (10.2 yds/target, 4.49 yds/route)

The Rebels fed Moore the ball at an incredibly frequent rate when he lined up on the outside, tossing the rock his way once every 2.3 plays in those situations.

Looking at all of the throws in his direction in 2020, Moore’s average target came 10.9 yards downfield, a number that is relatively average as it ranked at the 41st percentile among qualified FBS wide receivers.

According to Reception Perception, here’s a breakdown of Moore’s route variety in 2020:

1. Curl (22.6% of routes)
2. Slant (15.8%)
3. Dig (13.4%)
4. Screen (12.3%)
5. Nine/Go (11.0%)
6. Post (6.2%)
7. Flat (6.2%)
8. Out (5.1%)
9. Comeback (2.7%)
10. Corner (1.0%)
11. Other: 3.8%

Moore’s frequency on curls, digs, and screens was notably higher than average, while his frequency on slants, nines, posts, and corners was notably lower than average.

Elusiveness

Moore is a big-time threat with the ball in his hands. In 2020, he tied for fifth in the nation with 505 yards after the catch and ranked sixth with 18 broken tackles after the catch. On a per-play basis, he maintained a solid level of efficiency in those areas over a massive volume (his total of 86 catches was 2nd-best in the nation), ranking at the 72nd percentile with 5.9 YAC per reception and the 74th percentile with 0.209 broken tackles per reception.

One concern with Moore is that he wasn’t all that productive on screen plays in 2020. He caught 21 screens, ranking seventh in the country among wide receivers, but his efficiency on those was poor. Moore averaged 4.3 yards per reception on screens, ranking at the 16th percentile among qualifiers.

Obviously, screens are a team effort (blocking on the outside is crucial), so this is not all Moore’s fault, but a proven track record of dominance on manufactured plays isn’t quite there. He was a bit better in 2019 with 6.4 yards per reception on screens (57th percentile), but that was a smaller sample of only eight receptions.

Hands

Moore plays with great catching technique, consistently attacking the ball with his hands and avoiding body catches. The numbers back up what he shows on tape in this area.

In 2020, Moore was credited with only two drops against 86 receptions, giving him a minuscule drop rate of 2.3%. That ranked 12th-best out of the 145 FBS wide receivers with at least 50 targets (92nd percentile).

Showing no fear at the catch point, Moore is a contested-catch weapon despite his slight frame. He caught 11 of his 15 targets that were deemed “contested” in 2020, a fantastic rate of 73.3% that ranked at the 92nd percentile (the FBS WR average was about 43%).

Three-level production

The greatest aspect of Moore’s appeal is his top-tier potential at every level of the field. If the only enticing aspect of his game was what he can do with the underneath stuff, he would have gone off the board much later. Moore went in the top-35 for a reason: he has shown the ability to dominate games in every way that a wide receiver can.