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Chris Moore

Arizona adds a sneaky deep threat

Arizona signed quietly signed Chris Moore to a free agent deal, and that caught my eye. While he’s never going to be a needle mover, he kept coming up with big plays last year.

For those who are perhaps a little rusty in the offseason, Moore played for Tennessee last year. He caught only 22 passes, but they averaged 19.3 yards. Despite that team having a lesser offense and him seeing few opportunities, he had 3 catches over 40 yards, and another 3 in the 29-33 yard range. Impressive, considering he had only 35 passes thrown his way.

Moore is 30. He was originally a fourth-round pick in 2016. He has played previously with Baltimore and Houston.

If we’re working off the “yards per pass play” metric, Moore last year was the 2nd-most effective receiver in the entire league, short of only Brandon Aiyuk. That’s among players with at least 30 targets.

Checking over the data of the last 30 years, there aren’t a lot of these guys – wide receivers with at least 30 targets averaging over 12 yards per play.

WIDE RECEIVERS AVERAGING 12-PLUS YARDS PER TARGET
YearPlayerTgtRecYdsAvgTDYPT
2022Rashid Shaheed, N.O.342848817.4214.4
2008Devery Henderson, N.O.563279324.8314.2
2006Devery Henderson, N.O.543274523.3513.8
2018Tyler Lockett, Sea.705796516.91013.8
2023Khalil Shakir, Buff.453961115.7213.6
1999Tim Dwight, Atl.503266920.9713.4
2021DeSean Jackson, 2TM342045422.7213.4
2011Jordy Nelson, G.B.96681,26318.61513.2
2019Mecole Hardman, K.C.412653820.7613.1
2021Henry Ruggs, L.V.362446919.5213.0
2010Mike Wallace, Pitt.98601,25721.01012.8
2013Kenny Stills, N.O.503264120.0512.8
2023Brandon Aiyuk, S.F.105751,34217.9712.8
1993John Taylor, S.F.745694016.8512.7
2008Malcom Floyd, S.D.372746517.2412.6
2019A.J. Brown, Ten.84521,05120.2812.5
2014DeSean Jackson, Was.95561,16920.9612.3
2018Robert Foster, Buff.442754120.0312.3
2010Patrick Crayton, S.D.422851418.4112.2
2011Malcom Floyd, S.D.704385619.9512.2
1992John Taylor, S.F.352542817.1312.2
2023Chris Moore, Ten.352242419.3012.1
2011Randall Cobb, G.B.312537515.0112.1
1999Az-Zahir Hakim, St.L.563667718.8812.1
2019Stefon Diggs, Min.94631,13017.9612.0
2002Dennis Northcutt, Cle.503860115.8512.0
2001Brian Finneran, Atl.412349121.3312.0

Of course, for our purposes, there’s no point in comparing Moore to guys like Aiyuk and Randy Moss. We’re trying to instead look at comps – less-heralded guys who are trying to move up into relevancy.

So instead consider the following chart. It shows modest (determined subjectively) receivers with at least 20 targets who averaged more than 11.5 yards per play. These guys are more in line with Moore.

MOORE-TYPE YARDS-PER-TARGET GUYS (last 30 yrs)
YearPlayerTgtNoYardsAvgTDYPT
1996Willie Jackson, Jac.423348614.7311.6
1998Ernie Mills, Dall.412847917.1411.7
1999Tim Dwight, Atl.503266920.9713.4
1999Az-Zahir Hakim, St.L.563667718.8812.1
2001Brian Finneran, Atl.412349121.4312.0
2002Dennis Northcutt, Cle.503860115.8512.0
2002Quentin McCord, Atl.201125323.0112.7
2004Andre Davis, Cle.351641626.0211.9
2006Mark Bradley, Chi.231428220.1312.3
2008Devery Henderson, N.O.563279324.8314.2
2008Malcom Floyd, S.D.372746517.2412.6
2008Miles Austin, Dall.231327821.4312.1
2010Patrick Crayton, S.D.422851418.4112.2
2011Malcom Floyd, S.D.704385619.9512.2
2011Randall Cobb, G.B.312537515.0112.1
2012Joe Morgan, N.O.211037937.9318.0
2013Kenny Stills, N.O.503264120.0512.8
2016Chris Hogan, N.E.583868017.9411.7
2016Taylor Gabriel, Atl.503557916.5611.6
2017Brice Butler, Dall.231531721.1313.8
2018Robert Foster, Buff.442754120.0312.3
2018Breshad Perriman, Cle.251634021.3213.6
2019Mecole Hardman, K.C.412653820.7613.1
2020Tyron Johnson, LAC262039819.9315.3
2020Donovan Peoples-Jones, Cle.201430421.7215.2
2022Rashid Shaheed, N.O.342848817.4214.4
2023Khalil Shakir, Buff.453961115.7213.6
2023Chris Moore, Ten.352242419.3012.1

Some of these guys I remember writing up in previous offseasons – Rashid Shaheed last year, and Joe Morgan, Taylor Gabriel, Robert Foster and Tryon Johnson previous. There are far more misses than hits.

But there have been some that have connected. Randall Cobb (after being lightly used as a rookie) and Miles Austin (an unknown with Dallas) exploded with huge season. Five other receivers put up top-40 numbers (using PPR scoring). I’ve got those guys tagged with double-dots, and the five who put up top-60 numbers tagged with single dots.

I’m a naturally pessimistic guy. I don’t see any real chance of Moore putting up top-60 numbers. But he does make sense for the Cardinals as a rotational reserve who can chip in a few notable catches.

MOORE-TYPE RECEIVING PROSPECTS (how they fared)
YearPlayerTgtNoYdsAvgTDPPRRk
1997Willie Jackson, Jac.351720612.1253.086
1999Ernie Mills, Dall.513032510.8062.483
2000•• Az-Zahir Hakim, St.L.815373413.94158.337
2000Tim Dwight, Atl.532640615.6391.467
2002•• Brian Finneran, Atl.1025683815.06175.833
2003•• Dennis Northcutt, Cle.936272911.82155.238
2003Quentin McCord, Atl.23912113.4021.3123
2005Andre Davis, N.E.24919021.1134.0118
2007Mark Bradley, Chi.1767111.8119.1135
2009Miles Austin, Dall.12481132016.311278.86
2009• Devery Henderson, N.O.835180415.82144.743
2009• Malcom Floyd, S.D.764577617.21128.656
2011Patrick Crayton, S.D.342324810.8153.8106
2012Randall Cobb, G.B.1048095411.98242.616
2012•• Malcom Floyd, S.D.855681414.55167.438
2014•• Kenny Stills, N.O.836393114.83173.939
2014Joe Morgan, N.O.1049223.0019.9139
2017Chris Hogan, N.E.593443912.95109.663
2017Taylor Gabriel, Atl.513337811.5181.779
2018Brice Butler, 2TM1066010.0118.0159
2019• Breshad Perriman, T.B.693664517.96138.151
2019Robert Foster, Buff.1836421.3012.3161
2020• Mecole Hardman, K.C.624156013.74132.160
2021Donovan Peoples-Jones, Cle.583459717.63111.763
2021Tyron Johnson, 2TM52168.003.6209
2023• Rashid Shaheed, N.O.754671915.65157.642

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index