J’Mon Moore is another athletic monster in Packers’ draft of special physical talents

After three picks boasting ultra-elite athletic traits, Brian Gutekunst again tabbed a special physical specimen with J’Mon Moore out of Missouri.

At 6’3 207, Moore only ran 4.60 at the Combine but improved to a 4.49 at Missouri’s Pro Day. He also has a 38-inch vertical jump and his 6.56 3-cone put him in the 96th percentile for receivers. His overall Agility Score is in the 98th percentile. In short, Moore is yet another athletic freak in Gutekunst’s first draft class.

This is part of a trend now for the Packers new general manager. Jaire Alexander, Josh Jackson and Oren Burks were all in the 91st percentile or above in SPARQ, a metric that measures athleticism relative to size.

Moore, boasting the above athletic traits, would be the worst athlete of the group with a SPARQ score in the 78th percentile, still ahead of Christian Kirk, Michael Gallup, DaeSean Hamilton, James Washington, and first-rounder Calvin Ridley.

Inconsistent to start his career at Missouri, Moore improved each season with his hands, routes, and efficiency. As a senior, he posted 65 catches, 1,082 yards and 10 TDs with a 68% catch rate, easily the best of his career. His route running and explosiveness show up consistently on tape and he plays faster than his 40 time.

There’s some Davante Adams in Moore’s game as a lanky receiver who changes direction extremely well, can out-jump corners but doesn’t have the elite top-end speed. He builds up speed and can create deep, much like Adams, with his route-running and suddenness. He may not be ready to contribute to the Packers offense much in Year 1, but he has the physical tools to match what Green Bay likes to do with this offense.

Moore isn’t the pure speed deep guy some thought the Packers would target, but he’s not the 4.6 guy from the combine, as his pro day time indicates. But don’t trust the stopwatch. This is an explosive player on tape.

Taking a slant for six against what became the best defense in college football in 2017, you can see Moore put distance between himself and the Georgia defenders. Guys with his size/speed/agility/leaping combination is rare. That his hands aren’t quite there yet can be excused. Remember, Adams struggled with drops early in his career as well.

Moore got better every year at Missouri with those drops, going from 33% to 45%, then 50% to 68% as a senior in catch rate.

There are flashes of brilliance from him and if the Packers can mine it and develop him the way they did with Adams, Moore has special physical tools to be a very good receiver with Aaron Rodgers running the show.

Geronimo Allison starts the season as the de facto WR3 and starter opposite Adams, but expect Moore to push for playing time and to be productive enough to force his way onto the field. He might now be the best athlete at the position the Packers have. From what we have seen so far in the draft, that’s exactly what Brian Gutekunst wants.