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J’Mon Moore drafted by the Packers in the fourth round of the NFL draft

The 6’3, 207-pound receiver caught 158 passes in Mizzou’s black and gold. Now he’ll wear green and gold.

Moore-DF-MSU Derrick Forsythe (Rock M Nation)

With the 133rd selection in the 2018 NFL draft, J’Mon Moore became the first former Missouri receiver selected since 2015.

Moore had an up-and-down career with Missouri. Thrust into a go-to role as a sophomore, he struggled dramatically.

But he showed constant flashes of potential as a junior in Josh Heupel’s offensive system, and when other targets emerged in 2017 and he didn’t have to carry quite as much weight, he became the efficient, increasingly mature receiver Tiger fans hoped to see, generating more yards in 96 targets than he had in 124 targets the year before.

His stats:

  • 2017: 96 targets, 65 catches (68% catch rate), 1,082 yards (16.7 per catch, 11.3 per target), 10 TDs
  • 2016: 124 targets, 62 catches (50% catch rate), 1,012 yards (16.3 per catch, 8.2 per target), 8 TDs
  • 2015: 65 targets, 29 catches (45% catch rate), 350 yards (12.1 per catch, 5.4 per target), 3 TDs
  • 2014: 6 targets, 2 catches (33% catch rate), 33 yards (16.5 per catch, 5.5 per target), 0 TDs

The improvement trajectory there is clear. As is the highlight potential.

Here are 5 things for Packer fans to know about their enigmatic, exciting new wideout:

1. He will sometimes make plays so crisp and incredible that you think you are watching a future all-pro.

He’s got nice size and above average speed, and he’ll occasionally remind you of just how physically impressive he is. And considering how much playing time he got over the course of three seasons, those impressive moments create one hell of a highlight film.

2. Drops are an issue. Or maybe were an issue?

Concentration issues were pretty constant for him throughout his career, as evidenced by what was a downright awful catch rate through his first three seasons. There’s no question that improved during his senior season, but bouts with the dropsies never completely went away.

3. Maturity was also an issue.

While Missouri was getting dominated at LSU in 2016, he got into a scrap with LSU corner Tre’Davious White. He got into another one with Georgia defenders when he was struggling early against the Bulldogs in 2017, midway through his senior year.

It appeared his temper got the best of him when things weren’t going amazingly well. Maybe it won’t be an issue in a pro environment, but he’s obviously going to only be going against pro-caliber corners from here on out, so it’s up to him to prove it’s not an issue.

4. He improved every year.

Can’t emphasize that enough. A lot of his struggles were born from the fact that Missouri’s receiving corps was almost completely barren in 2015, and he was asked to play a No. 1 role he wasn’t ready to play. That created a lot of bad habits that it took a couple of years to work past.

Without knowing the back story, I don’t think Mizzou fans would have found much to complain about from the senior version of J’Mon. Georgia game aside, anyway.

5. He’s extremely human.

His pure curiosity was the catalyst for the Mizzou Football team ending up involved in the 2015 race protests in Columbia. He wore his emotion on his sleeve at times. He comes across as anything but a robot. Obviously, knowing the NFL, that almost certainly became a red flag for quite a few teams. But it also made him pretty easy for me to root for.

For better and often worse, he is very much not a robot in shoulder pads.

Good luck, J’Mon.

NCAA Football: Missouri at Arkansas
J’Mon Moore
Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports