RADIO
DJ Moore 2023 Outlook: Can he Thrive in a low-volume Passing Attack
2 years agoAfter five seasons in Carolina, D.J. Moore now finds himself in the Windy City. Through five seasons, Moore has never finished inside the top-15 WRs in any given year. Last season, his 6.9 targets per game were the fewest since his rookie season. He did, however, catch a career-high 7 touchdowns in 2022 which barely propelled him to a top-25 finish. He goes from a team that threw the ball just 26.9 times, to a team that threw the ball even less, at 22.2 times per game. The extremely low pass attempts were a combination of Justin Fields' dual-threat ability and the lack of talent at wide receiver for the Bears. There were games Fields was throwing to Dante Pettis, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Byron Pringle. There's no doubt that Moore and his ability to get open on a consistent basis will mean more passing from the Bears this season. However, it's unlikely they find themselves passing more than they're running all of a sudden. Even if he commands a 27.7% target share like he did last season, Moore would still only see just north of eight targets per game. That's decent, but it's not worthy of top-12 WR consideration. Consider Moore a WR2 with upside should Chicago surprise us all and throw the ball a lot more in 2023.
