Elijah Danilo Moore (born March 27, 2000) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss and was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft.

Elijah Moore
refer to caption
Moore with the Browns in 2023
No. 8 – Cleveland Browns
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (2000-03-27) March 27, 2000 (age 24)
Sunrise, Florida, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school:St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
College:Ole Miss (2018–2020)
NFL draft:2021 / round: 2 / pick: 34
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 9, 2024
Receptions:172
Receiving yards:1,873
Receiving touchdowns:8
Rushing yards:70
Rushing touchdowns:1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

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Moore grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School. As a senior, Moore caught 28 passes for 407 yards and five touchdowns and was named an Under Armour All-American.[1] He was rated a four-star recruit and originally committed to play college football at Georgia over 33 other scholarship offers.[2] Moore changed his commitment to Ole Miss in December of his senior year.[3]

College career

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As a true freshman, Moore caught 36 passes for 398 yards and two touchdowns.[4][5] As a sophomore, he led the Rebels with 67 receptions, 850 receiving yards and six touchdown catches.[6] In the 2019 Egg Bowl against Mississippi State, Moore drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for pretending to be a dog urinating in the end zone following the touchdown. As a result, the extra point attempt went from being a 20-yard attempt to a 35-yard attempt, which was missed as Ole Miss lost 21–20.[7][8] The loss led Ole Miss to fire head coach Matt Luke.[9]

Moore entered his junior season on the watchlist for the Biletnikoff Award.[10][11] In the season opener against Florida, Moore caught ten passes for 227 yards, the second most in a game in school history.[12] He set a new school record for receiving yards in a game with 238 while also tying the Ole Miss game records for receptions with 14 and touchdown catches with three on October 31, 2020, in a 54–21 win over Vanderbilt.[13] Moore finished the season with a school-record 86 receptions for 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns in eight games played before opting out before the Rebels' final regular season game in order to begin preparing for the 2021 NFL draft.[14] Moore was named first-team All-SEC and was a consensus first-team All-America selection as well a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award.[15]

College statistics

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Ole Miss Rebels
Season GP Receiving
Rec Yds Avg TD
2018 11 36 398 11.1 2
2019 12 67 850 12.7 6
2020 8 86 1,193 13.9 8
Career 31 189 2,441 12.9 16

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 9+12 in
(1.77 m)
178 lb
(81 kg)
30+18 in
(0.77 m)
9+38 in
(0.24 m)
4.35 s 1.57 s 2.57 s 4.00 s 6.67 s 36.0 in
(0.91 m)
10 ft 1 in
(3.07 m)
17 reps
All values from Pro Day[16]

New York Jets

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Moore was selected by the New York Jets in the second round (34th overall) of the 2021 NFL draft.[17] On July 21, 2021, Moore signed his four-year rookie contract with the Jets, worth $8.94 million.[18]

Moore entered his rookie season as a starting wide receiver. He scored his first career touchdown in a breakout game in Week 9 against the Indianapolis Colts, recording seven catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns.[19] In Week 11, he had eight catches for 141 yards and a touchdown.[20] He suffered a quad injury in Week 13 and was placed on injured reserve on December 11, 2021.[21] He finished his rookie season with 43 receptions for 538 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.[22]

On October 20, 2022, Moore requested a trade from the Jets, citing frustration with his lack of involvement in the offense.[23] In the 2022 season, Moore finished with 37 receptions for 446 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown in 16 games.[24]

Cleveland Browns

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On March 22, 2023, Moore and a third round pick were traded to the Cleveland Browns for a second-round pick.[25]

Moore began the 2023 season as the Browns second option at wide receiver behind teammate Amari Cooper. Moore's best performance on the season came on week 17 against his former team the New York Jets where he caught 5 of 6 targets for 61 yards and a receiving touchdown.[26] Moore's week 17 performance was helped by both him and teammate David Njoku receiving an increased target share due to Cooper being listed on the Browns inactive list with a heel injury.[27] Moore finished his 2023 campaign with 59 receptions for 640 yards and 2 touchdowns.[28]

NFL career statistics

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Regular season

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Year Team Games Receiving Rushing Fumbles
GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Att Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost
2021 NYJ 11 6 43 538 12.5 62 5 5 54 10.8 19 1 0 0
2022 NYJ 16 9 37 446 12.1 42 1 5 5 1.0 10 0 1 0
2023 CLE 17 12 59 640 10.8 42 2 9 11 1.2 19 0 2 2
Career 44 27 139 1,624 11.7 62 8 19 70 3.7 19 1 3 2

Postseason

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Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles
GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost
2023 CLE 1 1 2 12 6.0 7 0 0 0
Career 1 1 2 12 6.0 7 0 0 0

References

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  1. ^ Johnson, David (December 20, 2017). "4-Star Moore Flips To Rebels From Georgia". 247Sports.com. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  2. ^ "Speedy Florida WR Elijah Moore commits to Georgia". USA Today. August 15, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  3. ^ Furones, David (December 20, 2017). "Elijah Moore provides Early Signing Period flip at St. Thomas Aquinas". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Ripee, Brian (September 10, 2019). "Moore making sure Ole Miss passing game continues to thrive". Yahoo Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  5. ^ Spencer, Adam (August 14, 2019). "Ole Miss WR Elijah Moore ready to step up after Rebels lost A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf and DaMarkus Lodge to NFL". SaturdaysDownSouth.com. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  6. ^ Buckley, Clint (June 8, 2020). "Ole Miss' Elijah Moore among top returning slot WR's". 247Sports.com. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  7. ^ Thamel, Pete (November 29, 2019). "All jokes aside, Elijah Moore's 'pee' celebration was an all-time sports blunder". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  8. ^ VanHaaren, Tom (November 29, 2019). "Ole Miss, WR Elijah Moore apologize for urinating dog celebration". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  9. ^ Russo, Ralph (December 1, 2019). "Ole Miss fires coach Matt Luke after 3 seasons, 15-21 record". ABCNews.com. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  10. ^ Gabler, Nate (July 16, 2020). "Ole Miss' Elijah Moore Lands on Biletnikoff Award Watch List". SI.com. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  11. ^ Suss, Nick (September 26, 2020). "Elijah Moore: 5 things to know about Ole Miss Rebels wide receiver". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  12. ^ Alford, Parrish (September 26, 2020). "Career day for WR Moore". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  13. ^ Suss, Nick (November 1, 2020). "'Smooth just like butter': Ole Miss WR Elijah Moore sets records against Vanderbilt". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  14. ^ Cobb, David (December 17, 2020). "Ole Miss star receiver Elijah Moore to forgo senior season after breakout year for the Rebels". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  15. ^ Johnson, David (December 31, 2020). "More All-America honors for Elijah Moore". 247Sports. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  16. ^ "Elijah Moore, Mississippi, WR, 2021 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  17. ^ Lange, Randy (April 30, 2021). "Jets, at Top of Round 2, Take 'Dynamic' Ole Miss WR Elijah Moore". NewYorkJets.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  18. ^ Levine, Ben (July 21, 2021). "Jets Sign Second-Round WR Elijah Moore". Pro Football Rumors. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  19. ^ "New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts - November 4th, 2021". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  20. ^ "Miami Dolphins at New York Jets - November 21st, 2021". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  21. ^ Greenberg, Ethan (December 11, 2021). "Jets Place WR Elijah Moore on IR, Activate CB Brandin Echols Off IR". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  22. ^ "Elijah Moore 2021 Game Log". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  23. ^ Cimini, Rich (October 20, 2022). "Source: Frustrated Jets WR Moore asks for trade". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  24. ^ "Elijah Moore 2022 Game Log". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  25. ^ Edholm, Eric (March 22, 2023). "Jets trading WR Elijah Moore, third-round pick to Browns for second-round pick". NFL.com. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  26. ^ "Elijah Moore 2023 Stats per Game - NFL". ESPN. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  27. ^ Poisal, Anthony (December 28, 2023). "Browns Week 17 Inactives vs. Jets: Amari Cooper Ruled Out With Heel Injury". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  28. ^ "Elijah Moore 2023 Game Log". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
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