I like Chicago’s decision to obtain DJ Moore in that blockbuster trade involving the No. 1 overall pick. Carolina originally selected him with the 24th pick of the 2018 draft, and if teams knew how he would develop, he would have gone even earlier.
Without Moore, the Bears would have needed to use an early selection on a wide receiver (in what’s a lesser year for the position). Now the Bears can instead look at other position.
At times Moore has looked like one of the league’s top 15 wide receivers. And his addition makes the entire group look better. Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool look a lot stronger as second and third options, rather than as a team’s two main wide receivers.
All this said, I have the drops data in front of me for the last three years, and I notice that Moore ranks last among the 30 wide receivers who’ve seen at least 200 catchable balls over the last three years. He’s dropped almost 10 percent of the passes thrown his way, worst among this group of receivers.
I don’t consider drops to be a significant problem for Moore. Part of his issues could be tied to playing with lesser quarterbacks, with more off-target throwing (increasing drops potential). Nonetheless, it’s one of the numbers I look at, and Moore comes out on the bottom.
| WIDE RECEIVER DROPS (last 3 years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Rec | Drop | Pct |
| Tyler Boyd | 209 | 204 | 5 | 2.39% |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | 201 | 196 | 5 | 2.49% |
| Hunter Renfrow | 200 | 195 | 5 | 2.50% |
| Davante Adams | 349 | 338 | 11 | 3.15% |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 229 | 221 | 8 | 3.49% |
| Tyler Lockett | 267 | 257 | 10 | 3.75% |
| Chris Godwin | 278 | 267 | 11 | 3.96% |
| Justin Jefferson | 338 | 324 | 14 | 4.14% |
| Mike Evans | 231 | 221 | 10 | 4.33% |
| Terry McLaurin | 252 | 241 | 11 | 4.37% |
| Adam Thielen | 221 | 211 | 10 | 4.52% |
| Keenan Allen | 285 | 272 | 13 | 4.56% |
| Cooper Kupp | 328 | 312 | 16 | 4.88% |
| Brandin Cooks | 240 | 228 | 12 | 5.00% |
| Jakobi Meyers | 220 | 209 | 11 | 5.00% |
| Michael Pittman | 240 | 227 | 13 | 5.42% |
| Stefon Diggs | 359 | 338 | 21 | 5.85% |
| Tyreek Hill | 337 | 317 | 20 | 5.93% |
| Marvin Jones | 208 | 195 | 13 | 6.25% |
| Christian Kirk | 224 | 209 | 15 | 6.70% |
| Amari Cooper | 256 | 238 | 18 | 7.03% |
| DK Metcalf | 267 | 248 | 19 | 7.12% |
| Marquise Brown | 233 | 216 | 17 | 7.30% |
| Russell Gage | 204 | 189 | 15 | 7.35% |
| A.J. Brown | 239 | 221 | 18 | 7.53% |
| Brandon Aiyuk | 210 | 194 | 16 | 7.62% |
| CeeDee Lamb | 282 | 260 | 22 | 7.80% |
| Diontae Johnson | 306 | 281 | 25 | 8.17% |
| Tee Higgins | 236 | 215 | 21 | 8.90% |
| DJ Moore | 246 | 222 | 24 | 9.76% |
—Ian Allan