David Moore’s return will stretch the field even more for the Seahawks

The Seahawks best deep threat from last season will make his debut versus the Saints. Surprise, the real deep threat was – and still could be – David Moore.

Much has been made of the spectacular 2018 season of the Seahawks Tyler Lockett. Rightly so, as he quietly (somehow) had one of the best statistical seasons ever. His ten catches last week proved he’s still the man in Seattle. You may not have realized that the Hawks actually had an even better deep threat last season. Great news, too. David Moore is back to take on the Saints!

Yeah, I know. I may have been a bit premature last season with my praise of Moore as the Seahawks next great late-round steal. For half the year, I was spot-on with that projection. He got off to a slow start, but from week 4 through week 11, Moore was as good as anyone in the league, let alone Seattle.  In that seven-week span, Moore caught 22 of 36 targets for 413 yards and five touchdowns. That’s 18.8 yards per catch and a score every 4.4 catches. He was unstoppable.

At least he was unstoppable until he stopped himself. Over the last five games of 2018, he was targeted just 16 times, just over three per game. During his phenomenal seven-game run the Hawks looked his way over five times per contest. Granted, he didn’t do much with those targets as he only had four catches for 32 yards. To his credit, the zebras robbed him of a 34-yard touchdown against the Vikings. Still, Moore’s production fell off drastically over those last few games. Despite that, he averaged more yards and touchdowns per catch than Lockett for 2018.

That’s why it was exciting to see him play well in camp this summer. He looked like he was ready to step back into the role of the physical deep threat the Seahawks have needed. Then he went down with an injury and 12s across the land worried about the passing game. As it turns out, it looks like Seattle found the king of physical deep threats in DK Metcalf.

All Metcalf did was break Steve Largent’s record for most receiving yards in a first game. And terrorize defensive backs with his superhero-sized frame. He’s a foot too tall to be Wolverine, but other than that, he’s perfect. He sure looks like he’ll fulfill our expectations for him this year.  With the hyper-efficient Lockett and the imposing Metcalf on the field, no one is doubling on Moore.

I see no reason that David Moore can’t pick up from his play this summer and break things open against the Saints. New Orleans hasn’t been particularly strong versus the pass this year. They’ve given up four touchdown passes and just under 500 net yards in their first two games. Throw in red zone monster Will Dissly, and the Saints will have their hands too full to cope. I expect David Moore will have his hands full of footballs.