The Seahawks still need David Moore, even if he lacks DK Metcalf-type hype

I know there’s a lot of hype around Seahawks rookie second-round pick DK Metcalf after his outstanding career at Ole Miss and his standout performance at the combine this spring. As you might recall, I was one of those hyping him up before the draft for that matter. And, to be clear, I do believe he is going to light it up in Seattle as a complement to Tyler Lockett.

However, I also believe that David Moore is going to make a big contribution at wide receiver for the Seahawks this season as well.

Moore isn’t the 6’4, 229-pound physical marvel that Metcalf is, but Moore is not a small dude himself at 6’0 and 215 pounds. He may not run a 4.3 like Metcalf, either, but Moore got open deep plenty of times last season. And one thing Moore should have over Metcalf, at least at this point, is that Moore has run a complete NFL route tree for two years now.

I think Metcalf will eventually get there in terms of his route running, but Moore already looks like a seasoned vet running routes.

He had several potential touchdowns where he went up and made a circus grab, but he just couldn’t get his feet down in bounds.

One thing is for sure: he can go up and snatch the ball out of the air at its highest point consistently. If he has a little better chemistry with Russell Wilson this year on his fade routes, Moore might end up besting smaller defensive backs every week.

But Moore isn’t just a jump-ball guy. He understands how to speed up his process on shorter routes, especially when he’s facing press man. Moore also understands how to get physical enough with a defensive back to create enough space to catch a pass, without overdoing it and getting flagged for offensive pass interference. There is a fine line there when you’re talking about wide receivers who push off, but Moore appears to know how to stay on the right side of that line.

It’s worth remembering that last season, while technically his second in the league, was the first time that Moore saw NFL action in his career after being active for only one game as a rookie. In fact, Moore didn’t even catch his first pass as an NFL player until Week 4 of last year.

The 2017 seventh-round pick has a lot of room to grow and should continue to improve this season, after getting a little taste of the action last year with 26 catches for 445 yards and five touchdowns.

It still may happen, but not without a fight.

There is also the fact that there is a starting position just there for the taking after Doug Baldwin retired this offseason. Even if Moore isn’t the starter, I believe he is still going to get his share of opportunities this year. He might not put up big numbers, but there should be an improvement over his production from last season, regardless.

Iron sharpens iron, and if anything the arrival of Metcalf is likely to bring out the best in Moore too. It is obvious that he has a considerable amount of talent, and I think the Seahawks will find ways to keep him involved.

One last thing that I like about Moore is that he looks so comfortable on deep balls, even when they’re contested. Not only does he track the ball well, but he also is good for putting his hands up at the last minute so as to not tip the defensive back that the ball is coming. Several times while watching his film I had to hit rewind just to see if he actually made the catch. He was so smooth that he would barely move while hauling the pass in.

While Moore maybe doesn’t have the hype like Metcalf heading into this season, I definitely wouldn’t count him out at all. The guy can do pretty much everything you want a receiver to do, and some things that many other wide receivers can’t. He runs good routes, has a sense of urgency, catches the ball well in traffic, gets open deep, and he does it all while making it look relatively easy.

Put me down as a David Moore fan, and I think he is going to take a big step forward this season, particularly as a red zone threat.

Confidence level: Moderate