What You Need to Know:

• Here are some ranks for Moore among all WRs since he entered the league in 2018:
  • 7th in targets
  • 13th in receptions
  • 8th in yards
  • 16th in yards per game
  • 13th in total PPR points
  • 34th in PPR points per game
  • 46th in TD catches
  • 12th in Pro Football Reference approximate value
• He has clearly had a QB issue through his 1st 4 seasons. The 2018 version of Cam Newton was fine. Since then, Carolina’s primary passers have been Kyle Allen (2019), Teddy Bridgewater (2020) and last year’s recycling bin.
• Pro Football Focus ranked Moore 31st in receiving grade last season, among 103 WRs with 40+ targets. He ranked 23rd in yards per route run.
• In 2020, Moore ranked 23rd out of 100 in receiving grade and 13th in YPRR. He checked in 16th and tied for 18th, respectively, among 98 qualifiers in 2019; 35th and 34th out of 103 in 2018.
• Moore enjoyed the best target share of his career last season, ranking 4th league wide in that category. That coincided with a significant drop in Robbie Anderson’s share, Christian McCaffrey losing 10 games to injury and Curtis Samuel leaving in free agency.
• Moore garnered 24.1% of Panthers targets in just the 5 games McCaffrey did not leave early last season.
• Carolina added little to the offensive skill positions this offseason: RB D’Onta Foreman, WR Rashard Higgins and a smattering of undrafted rookies.
• The Panthers have ranked mid-pack in run-pass split through 2 years of HC Matt Rhule, passing on 59% of plays each year.
• As of this writing, Sam Darnold and Matt Corral stand as the top 2 competitors at QB. Rumors have Carolina nearing a deal for QB Baker Mayfield, though.
• Panthers beat writer Ellis L. Williams believes new OC Ben McAdoo’s “up-tempo and quick-release concepts” should add YAC opportunities for WR DJ Moore.
• Moore is a supreme athlete who delivered on just about every indicator of future success as a draft prospect back in 2018.

Draft Sharks Bottom Line:

Moore is a strong talent who has delivered nice fantasy production through 4 seasons. He’ll need a QB upgrade to truly unlock his ceiling, though. A Baker Mayfield trade looks like the best shot at that for this year. And we’re not sure just how much higher Mayfield would vault that ceiling. As long as Moore arrives at a mid-WR2 level or lower in drafts, he’s fine. He’ll have to slip further to make for an exciting target, though.