Over the last few draft cycles, one school has been producing some notable wide receivers. No, it’s not Ohio State, Alabama, or LSU that we are talking about here. In fact, we are discussing the Broncos of Western Michigan. The school is most notably known for Corey Davis and D’Wayne Eskridge as of late. This year, another player has emerged. Skyy Moore plays a different style of football than Davis and Eskridge but can get selected in the first two rounds. Can he live up to the hype of the other two? Let’s break it down.
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Player Bio
Name: Skyy Moore
Jersey: No. 24
Position: Wide Receiver
School: Western Michigan
Class: Junior
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 195 lbs
Games Watched: Pitt (2021), Michigan (2021), Northern Illinois (2021), Kent State (2021)
Major Injury History: None
Player Breakdown
Hands/Ball Security (9.75/10)
Moore has zero issues with his hands. There were no drops in the four games watched, and he did an incredible job of plucking the ball outside his frame. For a guy with not much size, he did nearly the best he could with passes that were off-target, something you love to see at any level. This gives Moore an instant leg up on most of the plethora of day two receivers early on.
Contested Catch (6.5/10)
Contested catch is very much two-fold with Moore. He’s not the jump ball guy and rarely even goes up and attempts to get in a jump ball situation. That will obviously lower the grade by a good chunk, though Moore does do the other half of contested catch really well. In traffic, Moore has withstood almost all hits to reel in the football. There were a lot of reps, especially in the Pitt game, where defenders would be right on his hip, and he secured the catch with no trouble. This is a convincing trait for more, even if he can’t get up for that jump ball.
Tracking/Body Control (8.75/10)
This one matches up pretty hand in hand with the rest of Moore’s catching ability. He’s had no trouble tracking the deep ball and hauling in the ball. Moore also makes the necessary little adjustments needed when catching off-frame. You’d like to see a little more of deep ball body adjustments, though Moore didn’t really need to do so as he’d almost always have a step when targeted deep.
Route Running (9/10)
Moore is an excellent route runner. This is his best trait and the way he’ll get open at the next level. Moore’s cutting is hard and lethal. He does incredibly well to shift his hips and is unstoppable in the intermediate areas of the field. The amount of time Moore beat the opposite corner on an intermediate route was off the charts. Against Pittsburgh, he walked into the end zone after breaking the defender’s ankles on a deep slant route. Moore can also stop and start very well. He has an insane ability to get going right out of the gates, or slam on the breaks, dishing the defender five yards past him. Overall, Moore is just an all-around stud in the route running department.
Skyy Moore with the devastating slant route for a td vs Northern Illinois pic.twitter.com/YbPXkVjedQ
— NFL Prospect Clips (@NflProspectClip) March 27, 2022
Separation (8.5/10)
Separation is a tricky one for Moore. Yes, he’s got the absurd route running ability, but there are times when defenders are right with Moore. Still, Moore seems to always get the necessary step, especially against the higher-tier teams (Pitt, Michigan). Moore won’t separate via strength in the NFL. However, he will use a blend of twitchiness and route running to get open. His release, which we will touch upon next, also sets Moore up to win inside leverage with ease.
Release (9.25/10)
Now we get to Moore’s so-called 1B best trait. The route running is still the best, but the release makes your jaw drop. Moore is quick to react to the snap. His feet are fiery, jittery, and quick off rip. This creates a dilemma for the defender because they cannot predict where Moore is going, and quite often, they choose the wrong direction. Moore’s release is at the top of this class and something that will get him higher than those other receivers.
Run After the Catch (8/10)
For the speed that Moore has, the RAC is a tad disappointing. Nevertheless, Moore is good with the ball in his hands. When given enough space, the speed is awesome, but Moore’s balance is pretty bad. With one ounce of contact, Moore is likely to go down or not gain enough yards after the fact. The real potential here is when there’s space to work with, and not necessarily the close quarters.
Vertical Speed (8.25/10)
Again, a big narrative around Moore was his speed. The 4.41 40-yard dash was nice to see, and Moore definitely can blaze by guys, but there are times when he can’t. Some define Moore as a burner, though that is simply false. Moore is more of an agile guy who features a game with precise cuts and beautiful hips switches. The long speed is good but not the selling point of his game.
Burst (4/5)
Moore has a high-end burst. It’s probably on the border between the two top tiers in this class. A player like Calvin Austin has arguably the best burst in the class, and Moore sits just a tad lower than him. The hips obviously set up Moore to have excellent explosion when coming out of cuts, and he does. This is another trait that NFL teams will favor Moore in than the others.
Athleticism (4/5)
We hate to spoil, but Moore’s pro comparison is Golden Tate. The reason we say that now is because of the similarities in athleticism. Moore had a surprising raw athletic score of 6.83, and Tate had a raw athletic score of 7.28. Both did incredibly poorly in agility drills, something that doesn’t match up with the film. This is what we can project for Moore. However, someone who doesn’t test the greatest heavily disputes those numbers on film, thus making him a good athlete.
Blocking (3/5)
Moore was used a lot to block. Something we saw him do more than others was blocking extensively in screens. Still, he gets involved on an off-and-on rate while having pretty poor technique. When Moore does go all out to block, he can be scrappy and actually win some reps, though we need to see more of that in the NFL. When discussing the next level, Moore’s frame is very scary for blocking. Perhaps he can do it out on the boundary with an inside run, but he probably won’t give much value.
Versatility (4.5/5)
Western Michigan used Moore all over the field, as he was their best player this past season. The one place we didn’t see Moore (which would’ve been fun to evaluate) was in the return game. However, Moore played a lot of snaps on the boundary and a lot of snaps in the slot. He succeeded on near-equal levels here, though Moore’s size and quick-twitch make him a nice candidate for the slot later on in his career.
Player Summary
The Western Michigan wide receiver tradition lives on. While Moore is not quite the talent that Davis was, he is still a very good football player. Moore can project to play anywhere on the field, which is nice for his draft stock. The strengths are huge with Moore, including his twitch, route running, and hips. This is a guy who can win with ease at the next level, even if he lacks some strength. In terms of projection, Moore will almost certainly go in the second round. There have been some trying to push him into the first, though that is a little too pricy for the number of receivers in this class. Nevertheless, Moore will be a player in the NFL for quite some time and has all the tools for a successful career.
Rookie Projection: Rotational Slot Receiver
Third-Year Projection: Potential Breakout Year in Slot
Player Grade (83.5/100): Mid Second-Round Pick
Player Comparison: Golden Tate
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