The great thing about the NFL is that there are so many positions that every year, there is almost always at least one player who has a breakout year on every team, no matter how good or bad the team is. This is one part in a 32 part segment detailing one potential breakout player for the 2012 NFL season on each NFL team. For the Oakland Raiders, that player is wide receiver Denarius Moore.
Denarius Moore is an incredibly athletic wide receiver with 4.3 speed at 6-0 190, but he really didn’t do anything for the first 3 and a half years of his collegiate career at Tennessee. From 2007-2009, he caught 65 passes for 1023 yards and 9 touchdowns combined and then through the first 7 games of 2010, he caught just 18 passes for 257 passes and 4 touchdowns. However, through the final 6 games of that season, he caught 29 passes for 724 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Raiders took a chance on him, based on his athleticism and his performance in the 2nd half of 2010, hoping the light had turned on for good, and used a 5th round selection in the 2011 NFL Draft on him.
They had to have been pleased with the results. As a rookie, Moore caught 33 passes for 618 yards and 5 touchdowns in just 13 games and he has nailed down a starting job heading into 2012. His performance was very impressive for a rookie. Discounting Julio Jones and AJ Green, since the 2005 NFL Draft, 22 receivers have gone in the 1st round of the NFL Draft. In their rookie years, they have averaged 37 catches for 524 yards and 3 touchdowns. The leader in rookie production among those 22, strangely Dwayne Bowe, who caught 70 passes for 995 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2007. And Moore did all that as a 5th round rookie, coming off a lockout.
In his 2nd year in the league, he should be even more improved. Moore has drawn rave reviews about his offseason and, if they are true and translate to the field, he’ll have a great season. ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson, who specializes on the AFC West, said that he expects Moore to be the best receiver in the AFC West in 3 years and Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times, a very reliable source on the Raiders, said that Moore would be the Raiders #1 receiver in 2012. Meanwhile, NFL Films guru Greg Cosell compared him to Mike Wallace. Wallace had a similar rookie season, catching 39 passes for 756 yards and 6 touchdowns in 16 games and then caught 60 passes for 1257 yards and 10 touchdowns in his 2nd year in the league in 2010.
Moore also got a lot of praise from quarterback Carson Palmer who said that Moore was capable of becoming a more “complete player” in his 2nd year in the league and that he is “going to be a star” in the NFL. He also said that he was someone he “could not be more excited about” in 2012. It’s very interesting that Palmer would say this because Moore was Palmer’s favorite receiver after he came in last year.
In 6 games with Palmer, Moore caught 19 passes for 406 yards and 3 touchdowns, good for 51 catches for 1083 yards and 8 touchdowns over 16 games. He could have a 1000 yard year in 2012, which would make him a breakout player. The only thing standing in his way are injuries as he missed 3 games last season and is currently dealing with a hamstring problem. However, if he’s healthy and plays all or most of the season, he should have a breakout year.
If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2
[switch_ad_hub]
[switch_ad_hub]
[switch_ad_hub]
Football Fan Spot 