D.J. Moore is a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. Moore was born in Philadelphia and played high school football for Imhotep Charter. He attended the University of Maryland between 2015 and 2017. Moore amassed impressive college stats 2,027 receiving yards for the Terrapins, the 6th most in school history, scoring 17 touchdowns. Stefon Diggs, who left the school a year before Moore arrived, managed more yards but three fewer scores. Moore was a truly dominant college performer, with a 98th percentile College Dominator Rating of 53.3 percent and a 100th percentile Target Share of 43.6 percent. He was also dominant early, with a 97th percentile Breakout Age of 18.4.
DJ Moore allied his dominance at the college level with impressive workout metrics ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft. He clocked an 88th percentile 40 time of 4.42, leading to an 89th percentile Speed Score. Moore also displayed exceptional burst and agility while boasting a wingspan of 10.22 (89th percentile). But his hand size was just 9", or 20th percentile. The Panthers selected him with the 24th overall selection.
Moore played less than 70 percent of the offensive snaps as a rookie while commanding a 15.1 percent target share. 406 of his 788 receiving yards came after the catch, the 12th most in the league that season. He also had only two drops. Moore's snap share and target share both jumped in 2019, with Moore playing 92.4 percent of the snaps and seeing 24.3 percent of the targets on the team that attempted the second-most passes in the league. Moore logged the first of his three 1,000-yard seasons and finished with 1,175 yards, the 10th most among all wide receivers. His target share was 24.6 percent the next season, although the Panthers dialed back the pass attempts somewhat. Moore was No.30 with 66 receptions but was No.9 with 1,193 receiving yards, thanks to an 18.1 yards per reception average.
In 2021, Moore finished with 93 receptions for 1,157 yards on 572 routes run, but led all wide receivers with 11 drops. He suffered, as he had throughout much of his early career, from inaccurate quarterback play. He posted a Catchable Target Rate of 71.6 percent, No.76 in the league, and his Target Quality Rating of 4.80 was No.79. It was a case of what might have been for Moore, who finished No.4 with 901 Unrealized Air Yards. He saw only 19 deep balls, which makes this unrealized figure all the more worrying as most of his targets were in the short to intermediate areas of the field.
