Raiders receiver Moore like a veteran
Denarius Moore is the perfect sleeper, because he doesn't say much. Correction, "Denarius Moore doesn't say anything," Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer said.
From the day the rookie receiver stepped on the field at training camp, Moore has been quietly making loud catches. And the wows - the finger-tip 46-yard catch plus two touchdowns against the Chargers last Thursday - and the hows - he somehow lasted until the fifth round of the NFL draft - just keep coming.
"He's the best rookie I have ever seen," Raiders tight end Kevin Boss said. "He makes incredible plays ... almost every day since camp."
Backup quarterback Kyle Boller was so impressed that first week of camp, he called his dad just to tell him about the fifth-round pick out of Tennessee.
"He's just a natural," Boller said. "There are certain guys who just have a knack for the game. He is so fluid running routes, has a great feel and knows where to be. Plus, he attacks the ball and has great hands. It's ridiculous how he slipped to the fifth round."
The 148th player selected, the 6-foot, 195-pound Moore has 23 catches for 396 yards and four touchdowns, plus 45 yards and a TD rushing. Nineteen of those catches have been for first downs.
Not only does he not say much, but Moore isn't overly impressed by what he has accomplished thus far. Take the catch Thursday, when he caught the back end of the ball with his finger tips while on a dead run and his arms fully extended.
"I didn't know it was anything special until after the game, when all my family and friends were texting me about it," he said. "Then I watched it again and yeah, it was pretty good. But at the time, after I caught it, I was just thinking about the next play. ...
"If it's in the area and it touches yours hands, you're supposed to catch it."
And this guy's a rookie? Some experienced receivers would have done a cartwheel and some pelvic thrusts after a catch like that.
"He doesn't play like a rookie, he doesn't act like a rookie, he doesn't study like a rookie, he doesn't practice like a rookie," Palmer said. "He comes to work like a veteran, like he's been here for a handful of years, like he's got a bunch of experience and makes plays against veterans."
Just like Boller and Palmer, Jason Campbell - the Raiders' starting quarterback the first six games before getting hurt - said Moore immediately caught his eye.
Early impression
"From the first day, it was effortless for him," Campbell said. "The game isn't too big for him. He's just so smooth, and he goes and gets the ball."
So, everybody here can see it. How in the world did the scouts miss it.
"I don't know and I don't care," Raiders coach Hue Jackson said. "We draft good players, and we got a great one in him. He is a playmaker, and that's the best compliment you can give a receiver."
Moore was a playmaker in high school - his Tatum (Texas) High team won two Class-2A state titles and he was also the state champion in the 110-meter high hurdles - as well as in college. At Tennessee in 2010, he averaged 20.9 yards per catch - second-best in the nation - and was the only player with a pair of 200-yard receiving games.
Inconsistency hurt
But Moore also had three games with less than 20 yards, so maybe scouts knocked him for consistency.
"He always had explosive-play ability," Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said, "but he only really had a five-game stretch with great production. I am sure that was a question mark."
Well, scouts could have gone a long way to answering that by looking at the Vols' quarterback situation, and what happened when they switched from Matt Simms to Tyler Bray. After Moore had 18 catches for 257 yards in the first seven games, he had 29 for 724 in the last six - including a six-catch, 228-yard performance against South Carolina, and seven catches for 205 yards against Kentucky.
Tennessee receivers coach Charlie Baggett thinks Moore also got too easily frustrated early last season, and it affected him on the field.
"He would lose patience and get upset, and we told him there's only one football and we can't get it to you every play," Baggett said.
Moore said he "just wanted to be part of the offense, and I thought they forgot about me at times - but you learn to just execute every time out there and the ball will find you. Don't take the last play to the next one."
Moore also was playing with ankle sprains early in the year, and he thought his great finish to the season plus his 4.43-second 40-yard dash time at the combine would get him drafted in the second or third round.
Instead he went in the fifth round, the 18th receiver selected.
"I haven't heard any good theories," Moore said. "People may have thought, three different head coaches, he's lost in the system, his attitude's probably bad. That's where you've got to get to know me and the type of player you're getting."
Proving them wrong
Moore showed everybody what teammates and beat writers were buzzing about at training camp when he had five catches for 146 yards at Buffalo on Sept. 18. He went up for two highlight-reel catches, the second one a 50-yard catch over two defenders for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:41 left.
He scored in three straight games (two receiving, one rushing), before a three-game stretch against Houston, Cleveland and Kansas City where he had two catches for 13 yards totals. Some people wondered if it was the consistency problem that some scouts apparently knocked him for in college.
Jackson didn't think so - "it was a direct correlation to where we (were) at quarterback" with Campbell getting hurt in the Browns game, and then Boller and Palmer stepping in behind center.
Connecting with Palmer
Palmer, having been acquired from the Bengals just a month ago, was only here for one of those games so he doesn't know what happened to Moore. But he knows that shouldn't happen again. Palmer quickly pulled Moore aside after the receiver "stuck out" at Palmer's first practice and talked to him about being a great receiver.
The five catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers? Good, not great.
"I expect more," Palmer said. "He made some really nice plays, but he's capable of even more. He's super talented. He's got a great head on his shoulders. He's very mature for being a young guy. I'm going to be hard on him. I'm going to keep working with him."
Which is fine with Moore, who never had that kind of relationship with a quarterback in college. He has been cramming for this chemistry test, and he thinks something has already clicked with Palmer.
"Once it happens, you're like, 'OK, this is serious,' " Moore said. "I think we have chemistry and I think we can build on it more."
Denarius Moore
Raiders receiver Denarius Moore hasn't performed like a fifth-round draft pick in his rookie year. The Tennessee product ranks among the top NFL rookies in most receiving stats:
Moore Rank
Receptions 23 8
Yards 396 5
TD receptions 4 2
Yards/reception 17.2 4
20+ yard receptions 9 3
40+ yard receptions 3 3
Injury updates
Running back Darren McFadden (sprained foot) was on the field Wednesday, watching practice with no boot. "He is making huge progress," Raiders coach Hue Jackson said.
McFadden has been out three weeks with the injury, and is likely out against the Vikings on Sunday. A more likely return date is the Nov. 27 home game against the Bears.
Meanwhile, receiver Jacoby Ford was still out with his sprained foot and is not going to play in Minnesota. Defensive tackle Richard Seymour has missed the last two practices with a sore ankle, but Jackson said he'll be fine.
Safety Michael Huff (ankle), who Jackson didn't let play last Thursday, has been playing hurt for the last month, and would have done it again in San Diego if not for the short week. He will be back for the Vikings game.
- Vittorio Tafur
Sunday's game
Who: Raiders (5-4) vs. Vikings (2-6)
Where: Minneapolis
When: 10 a.m.
TV/Radio: Channel: 5 Channel: 13 Channel: 46 /105.3
E-mail Vittorio Tafur at [email protected].
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/16/SPD21M071U.DTL&ao=2#ixzz1dxaCse00
Denarius Moore is the perfect sleeper, because he doesn't say much. Correction, "Denarius Moore doesn't say anything," Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer said.
From the day the rookie receiver stepped on the field at training camp, Moore has been quietly making loud catches. And the wows - the finger-tip 46-yard catch plus two touchdowns against the Chargers last Thursday - and the hows - he somehow lasted until the fifth round of the NFL draft - just keep coming.
"He's the best rookie I have ever seen," Raiders tight end Kevin Boss said. "He makes incredible plays ... almost every day since camp."
Backup quarterback Kyle Boller was so impressed that first week of camp, he called his dad just to tell him about the fifth-round pick out of Tennessee.
"He's just a natural," Boller said. "There are certain guys who just have a knack for the game. He is so fluid running routes, has a great feel and knows where to be. Plus, he attacks the ball and has great hands. It's ridiculous how he slipped to the fifth round."
The 148th player selected, the 6-foot, 195-pound Moore has 23 catches for 396 yards and four touchdowns, plus 45 yards and a TD rushing. Nineteen of those catches have been for first downs.
Not only does he not say much, but Moore isn't overly impressed by what he has accomplished thus far. Take the catch Thursday, when he caught the back end of the ball with his finger tips while on a dead run and his arms fully extended.
"I didn't know it was anything special until after the game, when all my family and friends were texting me about it," he said. "Then I watched it again and yeah, it was pretty good. But at the time, after I caught it, I was just thinking about the next play. ...
"If it's in the area and it touches yours hands, you're supposed to catch it."
And this guy's a rookie? Some experienced receivers would have done a cartwheel and some pelvic thrusts after a catch like that.
"He doesn't play like a rookie, he doesn't act like a rookie, he doesn't study like a rookie, he doesn't practice like a rookie," Palmer said. "He comes to work like a veteran, like he's been here for a handful of years, like he's got a bunch of experience and makes plays against veterans."
Just like Boller and Palmer, Jason Campbell - the Raiders' starting quarterback the first six games before getting hurt - said Moore immediately caught his eye.
Early impression
"From the first day, it was effortless for him," Campbell said. "The game isn't too big for him. He's just so smooth, and he goes and gets the ball."
So, everybody here can see it. How in the world did the scouts miss it.
"I don't know and I don't care," Raiders coach Hue Jackson said. "We draft good players, and we got a great one in him. He is a playmaker, and that's the best compliment you can give a receiver."
Moore was a playmaker in high school - his Tatum (Texas) High team won two Class-2A state titles and he was also the state champion in the 110-meter high hurdles - as well as in college. At Tennessee in 2010, he averaged 20.9 yards per catch - second-best in the nation - and was the only player with a pair of 200-yard receiving games.
Inconsistency hurt
But Moore also had three games with less than 20 yards, so maybe scouts knocked him for consistency.
"He always had explosive-play ability," Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said, "but he only really had a five-game stretch with great production. I am sure that was a question mark."
Well, scouts could have gone a long way to answering that by looking at the Vols' quarterback situation, and what happened when they switched from Matt Simms to Tyler Bray. After Moore had 18 catches for 257 yards in the first seven games, he had 29 for 724 in the last six - including a six-catch, 228-yard performance against South Carolina, and seven catches for 205 yards against Kentucky.
Tennessee receivers coach Charlie Baggett thinks Moore also got too easily frustrated early last season, and it affected him on the field.
"He would lose patience and get upset, and we told him there's only one football and we can't get it to you every play," Baggett said.
Moore said he "just wanted to be part of the offense, and I thought they forgot about me at times - but you learn to just execute every time out there and the ball will find you. Don't take the last play to the next one."
Moore also was playing with ankle sprains early in the year, and he thought his great finish to the season plus his 4.43-second 40-yard dash time at the combine would get him drafted in the second or third round.
Instead he went in the fifth round, the 18th receiver selected.
"I haven't heard any good theories," Moore said. "People may have thought, three different head coaches, he's lost in the system, his attitude's probably bad. That's where you've got to get to know me and the type of player you're getting."
Proving them wrong
Moore showed everybody what teammates and beat writers were buzzing about at training camp when he had five catches for 146 yards at Buffalo on Sept. 18. He went up for two highlight-reel catches, the second one a 50-yard catch over two defenders for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:41 left.
He scored in three straight games (two receiving, one rushing), before a three-game stretch against Houston, Cleveland and Kansas City where he had two catches for 13 yards totals. Some people wondered if it was the consistency problem that some scouts apparently knocked him for in college.
Jackson didn't think so - "it was a direct correlation to where we (were) at quarterback" with Campbell getting hurt in the Browns game, and then Boller and Palmer stepping in behind center.
Connecting with Palmer
Palmer, having been acquired from the Bengals just a month ago, was only here for one of those games so he doesn't know what happened to Moore. But he knows that shouldn't happen again. Palmer quickly pulled Moore aside after the receiver "stuck out" at Palmer's first practice and talked to him about being a great receiver.
The five catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers? Good, not great.
"I expect more," Palmer said. "He made some really nice plays, but he's capable of even more. He's super talented. He's got a great head on his shoulders. He's very mature for being a young guy. I'm going to be hard on him. I'm going to keep working with him."
Which is fine with Moore, who never had that kind of relationship with a quarterback in college. He has been cramming for this chemistry test, and he thinks something has already clicked with Palmer.
"Once it happens, you're like, 'OK, this is serious,' " Moore said. "I think we have chemistry and I think we can build on it more."
Denarius Moore
Raiders receiver Denarius Moore hasn't performed like a fifth-round draft pick in his rookie year. The Tennessee product ranks among the top NFL rookies in most receiving stats:
Moore Rank
Receptions 23 8
Yards 396 5
TD receptions 4 2
Yards/reception 17.2 4
20+ yard receptions 9 3
40+ yard receptions 3 3
Injury updates
Running back Darren McFadden (sprained foot) was on the field Wednesday, watching practice with no boot. "He is making huge progress," Raiders coach Hue Jackson said.
McFadden has been out three weeks with the injury, and is likely out against the Vikings on Sunday. A more likely return date is the Nov. 27 home game against the Bears.
Meanwhile, receiver Jacoby Ford was still out with his sprained foot and is not going to play in Minnesota. Defensive tackle Richard Seymour has missed the last two practices with a sore ankle, but Jackson said he'll be fine.
Safety Michael Huff (ankle), who Jackson didn't let play last Thursday, has been playing hurt for the last month, and would have done it again in San Diego if not for the short week. He will be back for the Vikings game.
- Vittorio Tafur
Sunday's game
Who: Raiders (5-4) vs. Vikings (2-6)
Where: Minneapolis
When: 10 a.m.
TV/Radio: Channel: 5 Channel: 13 Channel: 46 /105.3
E-mail Vittorio Tafur at [email protected].
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/16/SPD21M071U.DTL&ao=2#ixzz1dxaCse00
