When Should I Draft Rondale Moore for Fantasy Football? Don't Stop Believing in 2023

Now entering his third season, fantasy managers are getting impatient with Rondale Moore. Should we be keeping the faith, or should we give up on the diminutive speedster?

It’s safe to say that things have not exactly gone as anticipated for the Arizona Cardinals. Since drafting Kyler Murray with the first overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft, the Cardinals have finished last in the NFC West twice. They got off to a hot 7-0 start in 2021, but finished with an 11-6 record and ultimately lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

Just two seasons later, Arizona is rebuilding. The Kliff Kingsbury era is over as Jonathan Gannon takes over head coaching duties. DeAndre Hopkins was released earlier this summer after a trade partner could not be found for the three-time First-Team All-Pro. One of Joshua Dobbs or Clayton Tune is in line to begin the 2023 campaign as the Cardinals’ starting quarterback.

To give credit where it’s due, Arizona was a clear winner on draft night this past April. The team managed to pick up Houston’s first and third-round picks in 2024 while still landing top offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. The Cardinals have a plan, and unfortunately for their fans, it likely involves plenty of losses this season. For fantasy purposes, it’s difficult to get excited about a team that intends to be bad, but there is still value to be found in drafts, or perhaps even on the waiver wire.

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Rondale Moore: A Hidden Gem

From Weeks 4 through 10 last season, Rondale Moore scored as the WR23 in half-PPR formats. This isn’t a particularly large sample, but it’s the only sample we have from 2022 as Moore struggled with injuries and exited early from his only other appearance. In this timeframe, Moore played with both Kyler Murray and Colt McCoy and exactly one of DeAndre Hopkins or Marquise Brown in each game. He earned nearly a 22-percent target share in this span.

As a rookie in 2021, Moore received just 64 targets in 14 games, with the average depth of his targets coming in at an abysmal 3.3 yards. This only improved to 5.3 yards in 2022, but at least Arizona demonstrated a willingness to give him an occasional shot downfield – something that has continued this summer despite a new coaching staff.

Another downfield strike from Colt McCoy to Rondale Moore! 🏈🎯 #Cardscamp #AZCardinalspic.twitter.com/gFvio8MjNr

— JOSE ALVARES (@Alvaresjose11) July 27, 2023

It’s unclear exactly how Moore will be deployed this year, but we should expect him to be the Cardinals’ primary slot receiver. This position was held by Greg Dortch at times last season, who thrived in the contests that Moore missed.

Without Hopkins on the roster, Hollywood Brown will be the team’s de facto WR1, but a healthy Moore should garner the second-most targets in Arizona. Third-round rookie Michael Wilson and the aforementioned Dortch should also contribute, but neither offers the explosiveness that is central to Moore’s skillset.

New Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon seems to like former #Purdue standout Rondale Moore ⬇️pic.twitter.com/6M86saadla

— Dub Jellison (@DubJellison) February 19, 2023

Because Moore’s career to this point has not been particularly noteworthy, it can be easy to forget how special he was as a prospect coming out of Purdue. He reportedly clocked a blazing 4.29 40-yard dash and a 42.5-inch vertical at his Pro Day. At 5’7” and 180 pounds, his size was always a concern, but these incredible measurements were enough to convince Arizona to select him with the 49th overall pick in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re absolutely correct to temper your expectations considering this Arizona offense could be amongst the worst in the league. Moore is essentially free in fantasy drafts and often goes completely undrafted. He could make an impact over the second half of the season, assuming Murray returns at some point, and he may even surprise early on.

Of course, with the news of veteran quarterback Colt McCoy's release, it becomes even more difficult to project Moore for success. In two starts with the Titans last season, Joshua Dobbs posted a 58.8 completion percentage, 411 passing yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and two losses.

The good news is that Dobbs spread the ball around pretty evenly to his top three targets, two of whom were receivers who took a fair amount of snaps from the slot. Both Robert Woods and Treylon Burks had fantasy-relevant performances with Dobbs under center.

If fifth-round rookie Clayton Tune is announced as the Week 1 starter, we will truly have no idea what to expect. It is worth considering, however, that Arizona's defensive unit may just be worse than their offense this year. With teams putting up points on the Cardinals, it's unlikely that James Conner is force-fed the football 30 times per game. Regardless of who is throwing the ball, opportunities will be available for Moore immediately.

Kyler Murray has not yet proven to be a franchise-altering quarterback, but he has displayed an ability to support multiple fantasy weapons on an offense. In Murray's rookie season, Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk both topped 700 receiving yards and had a few huge weeks. The arrival of Hopkins in 2020 definitely changed things, but Kirk was still able to score six touchdowns.

Hopkins and Moore missed some time in 2021, but they, along with Kirk, A.J. Green, and Zach Ertz, topped 60 targets and produced for fantasy managers at different points throughout the season. In 2022, as previously discussed, Moore and Dortch shined from the slot while Brown and Hopkins offered consistent production from the outside when on the field.

In short, two or more of Arizona's receiving options should become startable fantasy assets upon the return of Murray, with Brown and Moore being the clear-cut favorites to do so.

Moore isn’t necessarily a league-winning pick in the 14th round, but we have seen enough flashes to continue believing in his talent. Multiple weeks of flex consideration and a finish inside the top 40 fantasy wide receivers are both certainly within the range of outcomes.

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