One such player is D.J. Moore out of the University of Maryland, who turned heads with an excellent performance at the NFL Scouting Combine. Moore checked in bigger than he was listed in school, at 6-foot and 210 pounds, then proceeded to make noise in the testing portion. Moore blazed a 4.42-second 40-yard dash and leapt 39.5 inches in the vertical and 11 feet in the broad jump, top-five marks at the position in all three drills. The public took notice, with NFL.com draft analyst Mike Mayock bumping Moore up three spots in his most recent positional rankings.
I spoke with Moore in the weeks following the combine, and he confirmed there was a little more attention on him. When I asked what stood out to him from the draft process, he pointed to "people sending links and stuff of me moving up the charts to the top among the wide receivers."
Of course, while it was great to see Moore show some objectively freaky athleticism at the combine, the evidence that he is a high-end prospect is all over his collegiate film, with his game being quite reminiscent of current Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate.
"I would say that's a good comparison," Moore said, agreeing when I ran it by him. "Watching him, he's physical, he does things after the catch that I do similar." Moore also offered up Jarvis Landry as another player who approached the wide receiver assignment with a physical nature.
As we discussed those two players, I mentioned that most NFL passing games today run through the middle of the field and, like Landry and Tate, you must be a badass to play receiver that way.
"Oh, yes, absolutely," Moore replied, with a laugh that confirmed he intends to adopt that same combative nature to his game.
Tate has racked up 90-plus catches in each of his four seasons with the Lions as their primary slot receiver, but he's no stranger to chipping in outside. Tate saw 68 percent of his targets when lined up in the slot in 2017, per Next Gen Stats tracking, but just 31 percent the year prior. Moore sees himself as a player who can execute similar assignments. "Oh, I could play all across the field, play outside or inside. It's in my arsenal to play both and be wherever the team needs me," he proclaimed when asked if he believed his primary home would be inside.
If Moore wants to become a starting-caliber outside receiver in addition to his work from the slot, he'll need to hone his route-running acumen. Luckily, he's already shown he has the potential to be that type of player, having consistently earned separation in college. The key to being a top route-runner is preparation and "just being able to run a route the same way, over and over and over again," Moore told me. He also relayed that his favorite route was the curl, which -- no surprise -- I charted as the pattern he ran most often and consistently gained separation on in college.
As to why he enjoyed running the curl, Moore said, "you can work man or zones. Work behind the zones, sit down in it, come back to the quarterback if it's man." He agreed it was his best route, which is good news for his NFL projection. The curl route is one of the most commonly run routes in the NFL -- if not the most commonly run route -- a major source of chunk passing production in the intermediate area of the field.
As with all prospects, there is room for improvement in Moore's game. He believes the key is continuing to develop as a route-runner, "coming in and out of my routes quicker than what I usually do, because I just know at the next level, they're going to be right there." Honing that quickness against press coverage to consistently earn a clean release at the line of scrimmage will go a long way in Moore's quest to become a No. 1 receiver in the NFL.
After studying his profile and getting a chance to pick his brain about the position, it's impossible not to be optimistic about Moore's chances at NFL success. It should surprise no one if he's the first receiver off the board in April. Moore told me he's had interviews with teams like Dallas, Arizona, Green Bay and others in need of a breath of fresh air in the wide receiver room.