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DJ Moore

Yards but not touchdowns

I'm not sure I've ever had DJ Moore on a fantasy team. There seem to be people who like him and think he's underrated, and those who can always find somebody else to draft. I'm one of the latter, and I don't think having Baker Mayfield as his quarterback will change that.

Moore has been pretty impressive, given the lesser quarterbacks he's been working with for almost all his career -- Kyle Allen, Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold. Over the last three seasons, only three wide receivers have more yards, and those guys are all pretty good: Kupp, Adams, Diggs.

At the same time, Moore has been light in the area that really makes those players fantasy stars -- touchdowns. All three of those guys have at least twice as many touchdowns in the past three seasons as Moore (12); Adams has almost three times as many.

Over the last three years, among the top 40 wideouts in terms of total yards, only seven of them have fewer receiving touchdowns than Moore, and they've all played fewer games than him. Nice choice for yards, not so much for counting by sixes. The table below (compiled using search tools at pro-football-reference.com) is sorted by receiving touchdowns the last three seasons. With rushing scores added in, Deebo Samuel would also be ahead of Moore.

TOP 40 WIDE RECEIVERS (YARDS), 2019-2021
PlayerGTgtRecYdsY/RTD
Mike Evans45341211319815.235
Davante Adams42445321392412.234
Tyreek Hill44383256337513.231
Adam Thielen38251171206912.130
Cooper Kupp48449331408212.329
D.K. Metcalf49358216317014.729
Tyler Lockett48349255328612.926
Stefon Diggs48424293389013.324
A.J. Brown43295185299516.224
Marvin Jones46326211258912.322
Chris Godwin40332249327613.221
Amari Cooper47353239316813.321
DeAndre Hopkins41374261314412.021
Marquise Brown46317195236112.121
Keenan Allen46453310332910.720
Diontae Johnson47405254276410.920
Calvin Ridley33288184252113.718
Justin Jefferson33292196301615.417
Terry McLaurin46357222309013.916
Mike Williams46304173290316.816
DeVante Parker40304175251014.315
Hunter Renfrow46276208229911.115
Allen Robinson44371238280711.814
Brandin Cooks45325213277013.014
Tyler Boyd47352236271511.514
Christian Kirk44290193231212.014
Emmanuel Sanders45251169222113.114
Michael Gallup39280160239515.013
Robby Anderson49342200239412.013
Kenny Golladay35224122204916.813
Robert Woods40337225262611.712
Tee Higgins30218141199914.212
D.J. Moore47416246352514.312
Jarvis Landry43326207258412.511
Cole Beasley46325231243810.611
CeeDee Lamb32231153203713.311
Julio Jones34273181259914.410
Deebo Samuel38246167259815.610
Michael Thomas23240189216311.49
Russell Gage46277187200210.79

Can things change will Baker Mayfield at quarterback? He's averaged 1.5 TD passes for his career, which suggests he'll throw about 25 if he starts all season. Maybe Moore can catch 30 percent of those, and zoom all the way up to 7-8. If so, I'll wish I liked him a little more.

--Andy Richardson

9 Reader Comments:

Brack Varnon

Pearland, TX
2022-09-05T16:29:42Z
the cult of DJ Moore

Ian Allan

Seattle, WA
2022-09-05T16:34:14Z
Independently, I had Moore's numbers in front of me yesterday. He's never caught more than 4 TDs in a season. 93, 87, 66 and 55 catches in his four seasons. In this case, I think it's more about the teams than the player.

Cody Hager

Portland, OR
2022-09-05T17:08:34Z
I'm in the D.J. Moore camp. Strong athletic profile. Dominated in college. Had a great year in the stats I believe are the strongest predictors for future NFL success. #6 in targets, #5 in target share, #5 in air yards. While only #48 in TDs, he was #29 in red zone targets so shouldn't be a surprise if he gets some positive TD regression. Now he's playing with the best QB of his career (admittedly still not great). One of my favorite players to grab in the mid 3rd round in redraft and a must have in dynasty.

Darrell Sooy

West Chester, PA
2022-09-05T20:57:27Z
3rd round is too high. Just don’t see the same upside as the other players in that area

Randy Clark

Renton, WA
2022-09-06T01:40:50Z
I see a healthy Baker Mayfield as the best QB Moore has played with and am really expecting things to click. Maybe not right away but second half of the year I expect Moore to be a WR1 that is borderline must-start.

Matt Becker

Reading, PA
2022-09-06T02:47:45Z
Andre Johnson (while a better player and better td numbers) also struggled with this. I’m not sure how much is the player and how much the QB. But certainly both players have had lesser TD passers throwing to them.

Maybe Baker makes a difference. I have Moore for the first time ever this year. So let’s hope so.

Robert McKinlay

Belews Creek, NC
2022-09-06T03:20:50Z
Baker might get him 2 TDs vs Browns!

Ron Knott

Renton, WA
2022-09-06T14:56:58Z
I traded for DJ Moore last year in my dynasty league giving up Keenan Allan because my team was eliminated from the playoffs. Both guys were on 3 year contracts. I was banking on DJ equal to Allan this year and better next, plus I own signing rights in 2 years. We will see. Consensus ranking say I will lose on this one.

Richard Weber

Fort Myers, FL
2022-09-06T17:22:16Z
RD3 is crazy for Moore. I think I've had him only once in about 16 opportunities over his four years. I really have no interest in him, and even less so because my leagues are standard scoring. I don't see Baker really radically inflating his TD totals.
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