Originally Posted by :
The 2022 NFL Draft was another strong year for wide receiver talent, and many assumed that a run on wide receivers would happen in the first round. That panned out with the Falcons taking Drake London at No. 8 and three other receivers were taken over the next four picks. The levee breaking on wideouts led to Jahan Dotson ending up as the 16th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, and some analysts thought Western Michigan's Skyy Moore would go late in the first round thanks to the run on receivers.
Moore was superb throughout 2021, hauling in 95 passes for 1,292 yards and 10 touchdowns. The junior also worked out well before the 2022 NFL Draft. Hence, there were some projecting him to the opening night of the draft, so some were surprised when he slid to late in the second round.
NFL team sources actually had Moore graded lower than the media hype. Some teams had him graded in the second round and others had him in Round 3. They saw some limitations with his size and thought Moore (5-10, 196) could have problems with longer cornerbacks as a pro. Thus, teams did not see a real slide with Moore.
The Kansas City Chiefs ended Moore's slide, and they are a mixed landing spot for him. On the plus side, Moore landed with an elite quarterback in Pat Mahomes and a great coaching staff led by future Hall of Fame Andy Reid. On the negative side, Moore is in a crowded depth chart, as the Chiefs have established veterans like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman and Josh Gordon. Due to the a second-round pick investment in him, Moore is assured of making the roster, but he could have a hard time breaking out in an offense that spreads the ball around and features tight end Travis Kelce. Moore will have to earn his playing time, but if he can break through to a starting job, he could turn into a very productive pro operating with Mahomes and Reid.
Originally Posted by JPH83:
I know "slot receiver" has become a dirty term, but you're telling me you wouldn't have given up a 54th pick for any of those? I mean maybe Renfrow I guess. Those are 2nd round caliber prospects in my eyes!
I might be alone here and I guess it fits with your "complimentary piece" rather than a WR1, but I'd consider a low-ish 2nd RD pick as a fair investment in that sort of role. Perhaps the Moore pick becomes more palatable if we did have that established WR1?
It's 2nd round caliber production, yes.
But strictly as prospects, you don't need to draft guys like that early. You simply never have.
It's a market price problem. It's the kind of failure to 'game' the draft that oftentimes will put a ceiling on your return. It's taking Tyson Jackson - a damn 3-tech - in the top 3. It's taking Dexter McCluster in the 2nd round to be Darren Sproles.
Meanwhile, by failing to capitalize on draft value, we lost Sam Williams who has arguably been the best rookie pass rusher to come out of the draft this year.
The only way to justify taking him in the 2nd is if you believe he's a future X receiver sort who can be an every down, all fields WR.
I simply don't see that kind of player here. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dunerdr:
Ah yes, now that Clyde has been discarded we turn to the next victim, Skyy Moore.
So given that I was very clear on my position in re: Moore BEFORE we drafted him, why precisely should I NOT have said opinion after we've drafted him and he's been a non-factor for 9 weeks?
I said before the draft that I thought Moore was a 'fit' in the 3rd and a 'value' in the 4th. So far nothing I have seen has disabused me of that notion.
But you can keep on playing the violin for him if you'd like... [Reply]
I think it’s pretty clear that the WR position fell off after the Skyy Moore pick. The next WR was taken at 71, 17 spots later.
The Chiefs traded Tyreek, knew Mecole was most likely gone after this year and Toney was not available at the time so they tried finding a WR who fits that mold, which Pickens and Pierce clearly did not.
Like him or not the kid fits the offense quite well. But expecting any player drafted outside the top 50 to be outstanding year 1 is not realistic.
Let’s see what he does with Juju out. Still think he’s gonna be a nice player for us when he gets more experience. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC:
I think it’s pretty clear that the WR position fell off after the Skyy Moore pick. The next WR was taken at 71, 17 spots later.
The Chiefs traded Tyreek, knew Mecole was most likely gone after this year and Toney was not available at the time so they tried finding a WR who fits that mold, which Pickens and Pierce clearly did not.
Like him or not the kid fits the offense quite well. But expecting any player drafted outside the top 50 to be outstanding year 1 is not realistic.
Let’s see what he does with Juju out. Still think he’s gonna be a nice player for us when he gets more experience.
So now it's top 50. Interesting.
I don't think anyone has or had any expectations of being outstanding, but that's probably a different discussion. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC: I think it’s pretty clear that the WR position fell off after the Skyy Moore pick. The next WR was taken at 71, 17 spots later.
The Chiefs traded Tyreek, knew Mecole was most likely gone after this year and Toney was not available at the time so they tried finding a WR who fits that mold, which Pickens and Pierce clearly did not.
Like him or not the kid fits the offense quite well. But expecting any player drafted outside the top 50 to be outstanding year 1 is not realistic.
Let’s see what he does with Juju out. Still think he’s gonna be a nice player for us when he gets more experience.
I think its pretty clear that the WR position fell off BEFORE the Skyy Moore pick.
Originally Posted by RunKC:
We’re really comparing this kid to Breeland Speaks? The laziest player the Chiefs have drafted in years?
The guy who showed up fat and out of shape?
Really?
Yeah, I'm not throwing the Speaks tag on him.
Speaks just didn't give a shit. I disliked the Speaks pick FAR more than the Moore pick.
On the flipside, I feel like the opportunity cost is gonna be quite a bit higher here than it was with Speaks. I didn't like Speaks, but I also didn't see any slam dunk picks on the board for us at the time. It wasn't a K-Pass of Kamara situation where a better pick just screamed out at the time it was made.
Whereas here I think there were multiple guys who were simply obviously better and if Sam Williams keeps this up, that's gonna hurt more than missing on say, Kemoko Turay....
But to City's larger point - these WERE the posts people were making, damn near word for word, about Breeland Speaks in their justification of the pick. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
Not making a player comp, but situation wise it makes sense.
"There was a run on DE's and he was the last one standing so we had to take him there if we wanted one".
"There wasn't a WR picked for a while after him so good thing we took him there".
Yeah, I see the similarities there.
And my position has always been that it's better to kick off a position run than it is to be at the tail end of it. Sure, you may end up reaching a little but at least you got your pick of the litter.
The "well the position group was drying up" justification has always been a pretty rough one to me... [Reply]
The biggest problem with Speaks was that the scouting was all fucked up. Dorsey's exit was late and Veach was really forced to work with guys he didn't hire to do that draft.
That's not the case with Moore at all, so I'm not sure the comparisons, or the excuses, hold up. [Reply]
Interesting that Chenal and Pacheco struggled at first but now look much better. Almost like playing time helped them develop and Moore could do the same.
Originally Posted by RunKC:
Interesting that Chenal and Pacheco struggled at first but now look much better. Almost like playing time helped them develop and Moore could do the same.