Elijah Moore is a WR for Ole Miss. Moore is an intriguing prospect with great shiftiness and speed. He was also a first team All-SEC and first team All-American in 2020.
Strengths: Elijah Moore is one of the many smaller, shifty WRs in this draft class. In addition his shiftiness, he has quick feet and great ability to start and stop on a dime. He is an explosive deep threat, displaying great short area quickness as well as good long speed. Moore is quick off the line and can set up DBs with quick explosion, making them think he will run a deep route while actually running a curl or a comeback route. Along with that, Moore has shown that he developed his routes over his collegiate career, improving them each season. He runs well defined routes, creating separation through both his cuts and his speed. Due to his speed and shiftiness, Moore is dangerous after the catch, and can be schemed to get “free yards” on simple screens and quick passes. Although Moore had some drops in 2019, he improved his hands and has displayed very reliable hands in 2020. Moore also shows good effort in blocking defensive backs, is a reliable receiver from the slot, and displays great toughness across the middle.
Weaknesses: Moore’s size (5’9″, 185lbs) is an issue for some. His lack of height and length does limit his catch radius, but I don’t put too much stock into his lack of size. He showed a lot of toughness, so I don’t think injuries will be a concern. Although Moore is dangerous after the catch due to his speed, he struggles with breaking tackles and is often taken down by the first tackler attempting to bring him down. While his speed does allow him to avoid tacklers in the first place, his shiftiness can only get him so far.
Bottom Line: Elijah Moore is a smaller, shifty WR with good route running ability. He uses his speed, cuts, and explosiveness to create separation, and is elusive after the catch. Although he is elusive, he struggles in breaking tackles, which will put a ceiling on his playmaking ability. Moore is a WR with very refined route running that will make him a successful slot receiver at the next level.
Grade: 2.6
