Oakland Raiders Have One Moore Move to Make

Oct 6, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Denarius Moore (17) runs between San Diego Chargers free safety Eric Weddle (32) and defensive back Richard Marshall (31) during the first quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Complete Receiver Now

A No. 1 receiver is a complete receiver with the ability to beat you deep, go over the middle, and run after the catch. Moore was a deep threat only when he came to the Raiders in 2011 which was good for the vertical system they ran. Then in comes the new regime with the West Coast offense where every receiver has to do a little of everything.

The new regime was not only looking for him to get the intricacies of the offense—they were looking for him to do more than go deep. That didn’t look pretty in the beginning as Moore suddenly had to run underneath routes over the middle around linebackers. The immediate result was Moore hearing footsteps which led to big problems holding on to the football when thrown to him.

But even while struggling last year, Moore showed the ability to make big plays running after the catch when he did catch it. But too often, he tried to run before the catch until this year, when Moore started catching everything this preseason. And after catching everything underneath and over the middle early on, Moore got the chance to go deep in the last two preseason games and it paid off.