Pre-Draft Recap
Skyy Moore landed on my radar late in the draft cycle. Didn't get ahold of any All-22 until the week before the draft, but his tape was pretty solid. Our analytics team was in on him throughout the process. He had an impressive Junior year with seven 100+ yard games including a fantastic performance against Pitt.
The main limitation with Skyy was his lateral agility. I graded him at 2.5/5.0. This singular trait continues to be a bane for young WRs. His film grade was buoyed by excellent post-catch toughness and creativity. He had a habit of adding yards after contact and forced the most missed tackles in the class. He graded out as a high second round pick, and the Chiefs landing spot launched his fantasy stock into the thermosphere.
I had Skyy Moore ranked as my WR6 in the class. That was obviously a mistake, as he finished with a measly 250 yards and 0 touchdowns.
NFL Film
Skyy actually looked pretty similar to his college tape. There might be a couple guys each class that look different than what I'd seen and really surprise me one way or the other. Skyy is not one of those guys. I comped him to Christian Kirk. That's exactly what we're dealing with. He's a boxy mover, but a tough football player. Kirk lived as a B-team fantasy WR4 throughout his career, until a coach decided to make him a focal point. Moore will be the same. Moore has worthwhile tools, but they require intent. He's not "undeniably talented." He's a useful football weapon, and if he could just get with a creative coach he'll make a huge impact.
If only he played for someone who makes life easy on receivers. If only he played for someone who could maximize his post-catch strengths. If only he played for someone who spins out walk-in touchdown opportunities every time his team is in the redzone. It'd be a match made in heaven.
Skyy's best work is after the catch. Excellent intent and timing make everything look natural.
He can fly around at high effort and generate large angle cuts without excessive chopping.
Andy Reid will make sure to give him plenty of targets on screens and end-arounds. The lateral game is a major component of the Chiefs offense. Moore will be heavily involved here. The fit is very obvious.
The Chiefs offense can be categorized into 3 general elements:
1. Field stretchers (Tyreek Hill)
2. Middle space eaters (Travis Kelce)
3. Boundary anchors (Sammy Watkins)
The Chiefs have more top end speed in Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, and Kadarius Toney, so Moore will be primarily used in the intermediate range as a complementary option to Kelce.
As such, he'll need to develop more consistency with Contact Avoidance. He can occasionally be surprised by defender alignment and find himself slowed up.
Hard to tell if both Skyy and Juju are running interference for Kelce underneath. Whether bad route running or pure decoy, he's not an option here.
His route footwork is typically adequate. He gets through his curls with decent quickness. Occasional inefficiency can lead to missed opportunities. 5 steps to decelerate is fine here, but ball is tipped. Because his 6th step is behind him he can't push off with the appropriate trajectory to dig it out. Likely not a huge factor going forward, but a worthwhile film note. These little intricacies don't matter unless he's averaging 2.3 targets a game. Every opportunity counts when you only get 33 targets in a season.
One encouraging factor is Skyy's technical ability. He can create opportunities on his own. He's not wholly dependent on Andy to get him open. Here's a clean rocker step to break open on the corner.
Against All-Pro Safety Derwin James, Skyy flashes plenty of quickness. He attacks Derwin's outside shoulder before sliding inside and outruns him quite handily.
Most importantly, he has an instinct for finding useful space. When Mahomes is on the move, Moore makes himself available. The play below showcases how quick this improvisation must be. As soon as Skyy sees Mahomes escaping opposite his movement, Skyy wraps back around into an open window.
Having this type of chemistry with Mahomes is essential for the role that Skyy will be playing. Mecole Hardman's improvisational skill always seemed just a bit off. Skyy will do what Hardman couldn't do and pick up targets beyond the specific gadget plays he is given.
The moment Skyy decides to work back downfield against traffic. Brilliant.
