Daily Short #20, June 29th, 2017: The Rondale Moore Truther
In my column earlier this week regarding the de-commitment of Justin Watkins and the subsequent "replacement"-commitment of Louisville Trinity (KY) WR Rondale Moore, I talked almost exclusively about the loss of Watkins and how Herman handled the process. I didn't really get to talk about my opinions on Moore as a prospect.
For all the headlines that Justin Watkins seems to garner, give me Rondale Moore, all day every day, and it's not a particularly tough decision to make. While best practices dictate not to hype players up too much as an analyst on this beat, I'll go in the opposite direction and say that the fanbase doesn't seem excited enough about Moore being on board with Herman's Longhorns.
The easy comparison for Moore (at least for Texas fans) is Marquise Goodwin. It's easy because both players came to college with elite, world-class, game-breaking speed as the headliner atop the list of attributes in their respective skill sets. I don't like the comp, though, because I think it undersells the fact that Moore is a football player first and a "track guy" second. While having a player like Marquise Goodwin on your football team is certainly no detriment, (last I checked, he is still collecting NFL paychecks) he always seemed a little more like a track guy and elite athlete playing football more than a dyed-in-the-wool football player. Goodwin was player who came in with the ability to run a wicked 9-route and burn you over the top, but one who NFL scouts worried about regarding his real-time understanding of the rest of the route tree and his polish as a receiver.
Just watch the video above. In it, you'll notice Rondale Moore flipping around and doing things that you'd break your neck even attempting. He looks like a magic acrobat and some kind of flying human-thing. Then you see the football highlights. Let's remember that the junior highlights that everyone fawns over came from only 4 games of playoff action. Most highlight reels you see for players usually get taken from sample sizes of 12-16 games (some of those teams patsies who don't so much as sniff the playoffs). That's three-to-four times the action that Moore saw against the top opponents in-state and his highlights are still just as filthy as most you'll see.
On top of that, the attributes that Moore shows functionally as a wide receiver in these clips show numerous instances of elite adjustment and framing-ability to make hands-catches. I'm already hounding Suchomel to try his best to get a hand measurement on Moore at the Opening this week, although I get the distinct feeling that Suchomel finds the idea to be creepy. Regardless, I'd bet my bottom dollar his hands are at least 9 5/8" because he's a snatcher of the football. He's also fearless going over the middle to get it through traffic.
Look at the separation he creates in drills both off the line of scrimmage and at his transition points into route stems. Watch his feet and imagine how well he's going to be able to shake press-defenders in a cover-2 release. Think about his electronically-timed 4.3 40-yard dash which should speak for itself. Ponder his 4.01 short-shuttle (which would have been second-best at the NFL combine in 2017 among WRs) and translate that change-of-direction ability and burst into potential for growing even more as a route-runner. Recognize that a 42.5-inch vertical is almost four feet up in the air. Recognize that it would have also been second-best at the 2017 NFL combine among WRs, a full seven inches better than recent historical average dating back to 2012 and 2.5 inches away from the record-jump over that same period.
My goodness, what more could you ask for? Maybe the ability to squat over three times his current weight?
And let's keep this in context because it's the most important part of the column: there are workout warriors every year. They are exciting based on numbers, but they don't always pan out to their athletic potential because they are not always football players first. What's so exciting about Moore is he seems to be one of the rare examples of a football player actually holding these attributes.
Moore has the frame to fill out to be a 190-plus pound WR at the next level, one who has legitimate John Ross upside. A guy who's more substantial than you'd think and stronger and stouter than he's given credit for while also being a speed demon and all-around polished receiver.
My name is Alex Dunlap and I am officially a Rondale Moore truther.
. . .
* Hear more of my thoughts on Moore as well as insight on him from Ketchum and Suchomel in this week's Ticket City Podcast
** There will be no Daily Short on Friday as I will be traveling to College Station to cover Friday's action at State 7-on-7, the column will return Monday
In my column earlier this week regarding the de-commitment of Justin Watkins and the subsequent "replacement"-commitment of Louisville Trinity (KY) WR Rondale Moore, I talked almost exclusively about the loss of Watkins and how Herman handled the process. I didn't really get to talk about my opinions on Moore as a prospect.
For all the headlines that Justin Watkins seems to garner, give me Rondale Moore, all day every day, and it's not a particularly tough decision to make. While best practices dictate not to hype players up too much as an analyst on this beat, I'll go in the opposite direction and say that the fanbase doesn't seem excited enough about Moore being on board with Herman's Longhorns.
The easy comparison for Moore (at least for Texas fans) is Marquise Goodwin. It's easy because both players came to college with elite, world-class, game-breaking speed as the headliner atop the list of attributes in their respective skill sets. I don't like the comp, though, because I think it undersells the fact that Moore is a football player first and a "track guy" second. While having a player like Marquise Goodwin on your football team is certainly no detriment, (last I checked, he is still collecting NFL paychecks) he always seemed a little more like a track guy and elite athlete playing football more than a dyed-in-the-wool football player. Goodwin was player who came in with the ability to run a wicked 9-route and burn you over the top, but one who NFL scouts worried about regarding his real-time understanding of the rest of the route tree and his polish as a receiver.
Just watch the video above. In it, you'll notice Rondale Moore flipping around and doing things that you'd break your neck even attempting. He looks like a magic acrobat and some kind of flying human-thing. Then you see the football highlights. Let's remember that the junior highlights that everyone fawns over came from only 4 games of playoff action. Most highlight reels you see for players usually get taken from sample sizes of 12-16 games (some of those teams patsies who don't so much as sniff the playoffs). That's three-to-four times the action that Moore saw against the top opponents in-state and his highlights are still just as filthy as most you'll see.
On top of that, the attributes that Moore shows functionally as a wide receiver in these clips show numerous instances of elite adjustment and framing-ability to make hands-catches. I'm already hounding Suchomel to try his best to get a hand measurement on Moore at the Opening this week, although I get the distinct feeling that Suchomel finds the idea to be creepy. Regardless, I'd bet my bottom dollar his hands are at least 9 5/8" because he's a snatcher of the football. He's also fearless going over the middle to get it through traffic.
Look at the separation he creates in drills both off the line of scrimmage and at his transition points into route stems. Watch his feet and imagine how well he's going to be able to shake press-defenders in a cover-2 release. Think about his electronically-timed 4.3 40-yard dash which should speak for itself. Ponder his 4.01 short-shuttle (which would have been second-best at the NFL combine in 2017 among WRs) and translate that change-of-direction ability and burst into potential for growing even more as a route-runner. Recognize that a 42.5-inch vertical is almost four feet up in the air. Recognize that it would have also been second-best at the 2017 NFL combine among WRs, a full seven inches better than recent historical average dating back to 2012 and 2.5 inches away from the record-jump over that same period.
My goodness, what more could you ask for? Maybe the ability to squat over three times his current weight?
And let's keep this in context because it's the most important part of the column: there are workout warriors every year. They are exciting based on numbers, but they don't always pan out to their athletic potential because they are not always football players first. What's so exciting about Moore is he seems to be one of the rare examples of a football player actually holding these attributes.
Moore has the frame to fill out to be a 190-plus pound WR at the next level, one who has legitimate John Ross upside. A guy who's more substantial than you'd think and stronger and stouter than he's given credit for while also being a speed demon and all-around polished receiver.
My name is Alex Dunlap and I am officially a Rondale Moore truther.
. . .
* Hear more of my thoughts on Moore as well as insight on him from Ketchum and Suchomel in this week's Ticket City Podcast
** There will be no Daily Short on Friday as I will be traveling to College Station to cover Friday's action at State 7-on-7, the column will return Monday
