This Blue Devil is Going Over 1000 Yards in 2024
This Blue Devil is Going Over 1000 Yards in 2024
Duke staff and beat writers have raved about him... the spring game confirmed the hype: fourth year wide receiver Jordan Moore could be in for the season of his life.
I don't have delusions of grandeur, I have an actual recipe for grandeur.
- Eddie Morra, Limitless (2011)
Jordan ‘Uncle Mojo’ Moore not only has a sick nickname, but it sounds like the converted QB is going to be catching a lot of passes this season. Non-disclosure agreements dictate that I cannot comment on whether or not head coach Manny Diaz is on the watchlist for a Known Degenerate Pig Farming license this year, but what I will say is that things appear to be trending in that direction.
The other week I was foraging through spring game information when I stumbled upon a rather fruitful piece out of the Duke Blue Devils’ camp. The Devils, of course, are ushering in a new era of the program with the arrival of former Penn State DC Manny Diaz, former SMU co-OC Jonathan Brewer, and (presumably) starting QB Maalik Murphy by way of Texas.
Duke had two primary receivers last year in the aforementioned ‘Uncle Mojo’, who’s nickname I absolutely love, in case I haven’t made that clear enough yet, and super senior Jalon Calhoun, who has since moved on. He takes 85 targets with him (more on this later).
Like many of you, I was intrigued to see how the spring game would shake out with Murphy and wondered whether Moore would retain his role as WR1. It would appear that he has—here is a snippet from the spring game recap:
Maalik Murphy completed a five-yard pass on fourth down to keep the drive alive. After moving the chains, senior receiver Jordan Moore made a leaping grab over a defender at the goal line for the game's only touchdown.
Here is head coach Manny Diaz after the game:
I think this offense is tailor-made for him [Moore]. I think he's got a chance to put up big numbers this year.
I think we’ve got the guys that can get him the ball and I think we got a lot of ways to get it to him. So, it was great to see him make that one-on-one play. That play was a 26-yard touchdown reception. It was all effort, skying above the defender and attacking the ball at its high-point.
One of the Blue Devils’ beat writers echoed that sentiment:
Senior wide receiver Jordan Moore is going to get so many opportunities to excel this season. Partly because there will be a lot of balls thrown his way in this offense and partly because of his abilities.
The story of how he started off as a quarterback and transitioned to wide receiver is well documented at this point. In his first full year as a wide receiver, he was named second team All-ACC.
New offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer is going to have the Blue Devils moving fast, spreading defenses out horizontally and throwing the ball a lot. For some perspective, the former SMU offensive coordinator had the Mustangs as the No. 22 overall passing offense last season with the fourth-highest yards per completion in the country.
While just a spring game, we saw a lot of quick passes to the outside, giving players like senior wide receiver Jordan Moore an opportunity to work in space. This is far from a final product though.
Moore is an interesting profile because he really hasn’t played WR very long. As mentioned, he began his CFB career as a QB, before converting to a skill player later on. The buzz coming out of spring camp really couldn’t be any better, and you should be taking notice if you haven’t already.
WR Jordan Moore (6’0, 195)
2023 STATS: 62 (105)-835-8 (15 PPG in 1PPR)
Moore’s 2023 stats are impressive considering that 1) the QB play was poor, as Riley Leonard was virtually half-passed dead for the majority of the season, 2) he was sharing targets with another primary receiver in Calhoun and finally 3) he is a converted QB who played his first season as a WR in 2022!
In fact, what might be even more impressive is that his very first season as a WR, he caught 60 of his 88(!) targets for 656 yards and five TDs (12.2 PPG). The trajectory certainly appears to be up, as the very next season (2023), Moore upped his production by two more receptions, nearly 200 yards and three more scores.
Moore was generously listed at 6’2 according to 247 Sports coming out of high school, but Fantrax lists him closer to 6’0. As can be seen below, he was a three star QB prospect in the class of 2021 coming out of Maryland.
It’s important to reiterate this point: Moore is such a unique case study because of the small sample size of him actually playing WR. The immediate returns from his position switch suggest to me that the potential for Moore is nearly limitless at this point as a prospect.
As for his CFF profile, his potential looks equally juicy. Jalon Calhoun takes with him 85 targets, 50 receptions, (a very unholy) 666 yards and four scores (11 PPG).
The QB play also has an opportunity to improve from last year with Texas transfer Maalik Murphy presumably taking over as the starter, and hopefully he can stay healthy all season. At the very least, it appears that Diaz is pretty optimistic about the QB play:
I feel very confident in the (QB) room. I think you saw today both guys can do it, both guys can distribute the ball. Certainly, the way that spring went like today, you're going to throw the ball more than you're going to run it. And I think both guys have a really good mastery, you know, just standing behind them today, the understanding of where to go with the ball.
Another year of development at the WR position for Moore can’t hurt either.
Coaching & System
WR1 PPG: 12.4 (head coach)1
The newest head coach of Duke is former PSU defensive coordinator and Miami head coach Manny Diaz. From his time at Miami, Diaz’s track record actually has some encouraging traits as it relates to the topic at hand today. Nobody would call him a pig farmer, not yet at least, but he has actually produced some notable outcomes.
You can see in the image below that his target share while at Miami was over 26% for his WR1 in 2021. That player, Charleston Rambo, caught 79 passes for 1172 yards and seven scores that season. Note that Rambo was averaging nearly 100 yards per game.
Over the last two years Diaz has served as a defensive coordinator, and wouldn’t have been involved in the play calling on offence, hence why those numbers are omitted from the chart. The Covid season is also omitted from the sample, Mike Harley led the Hurricanes that year with 799 yards and seven scores on 57 receptions.
His OC, Jonathan Brewer, comes over by way of SMU. Below is a summary of his coaching career. You’ll notice that his play calling experience is limited.
BREWER'S COACHING CAREER
2024-pres. – Duke (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
2023 – Southern Methodist (Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
2022 – Southern Methodist (Quarterbacks)
2020-21 – Miami (Senior Offensive Quality Control)
2018-19 – Southern Methodist (Offensive Quality Control Analyst)
2017 – Connecticut (Offensive Analyst)
2016 – Auburn (Offensive Analyst/Wide Receivers)
2013-15 – Auburn (Graduate Assistant/Offensive Line)
I won’t put too much stock into the 2023 SMU numbers, which was WR by-committee. That was a Rhett Lashlee led team, and he’s proven he’ll feature guys at the WR position if they have an elite player. I’m just going to assume SMU didn’t have a guy like that last year.
Duke apparently does, though, and given that Brewer’s been around multiple teams with a main feature target at WR (just not as a play caller), I’m not putting it past him to feed Moore as the above quoted beat writer is expecting.
One of the areas where I foresee Duke finding success this season is in the deep passing game. Murphy has a cannon, this is well documented, and Moore has proven to be an effective boundary receiver already.
Closing
Some potential concerns regarding this profile are 1) the play of the QB is going to be a question mark headed into the season, and 2) there is not a huge sample size to go off of with the coaching staff’s play calling tendencies.
The first concern is more relevant to me. Anybody who drafts Moore this summer will just have to accept that risk but understand that this profile’s floor is probably a repeat of what he did last year, which was solid anyways, and the ceiling is one of the top WRs in all of CFB. It doesn’t feel like it is out of the realm of possibility that Moore could end the season averaging over 20 PPG given what we’ve discussed today.
Moore’s current ADP is 192.4 according to Campus2Canton, which is an increase from his March ADP of 215, suggesting that he’s already rising. The current ADP tracks to about the 16th round, which makes him a no-brainer for me as a selection. I’m guessing that that number will continue to rise this summer like it did through April. In all likelihood, Moore will be rated high in my upcoming Q2 rankings report. ◾
Model numbers are provided from a subscriber’s model and are quoted in half PPR.