By: Brandon Carr
The College Football season last year was one of the best ones that we have had in a while. We saw the rise of Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers all the way to an undefeated season and national championship victory over Clemson. We saw the breakout of players like freshman Sam Howell, sophomore Justin Fields, and many others. We saw Jalen Hurts transferring to the Oklahoma Sooners and he showcased how good he is in his senior season. We saw Jonathan Taylor rush once again for over 2,000 yards for Wisconsin in his final season. There were a lot of awesome storylines and a lot of amazing players that captivated the attention of the football world. There however was one player that only played in 4 games this season who people may have forgotten about. That guy’s name is Rondale Moore.
Rondale Moore is a wide receiver for the Purdue Boilermakers. His sophomore season was cut short due to suffering a season-ending hamstring injury in the fourth game of the season against Minnesota. Moore finished his sophomore season with 29 receptions for 387 yards and 2 touchdowns. This was very heartbreaking considering that college football just lost maybe its most electric player. Some people may have forgotten about how damn good Moore is. So in this article, I wanted to take some time to explain to you why he is. When I watched him as a freshman, I instantly fell in love with Moore as a football player. I couldn’t believe what I was watching from a true freshman at Purdue out of all Big Ten schools.
So let’s start off with Moore’s numbers and his accomplishments from his freshman season for the Boilermakers. Moore in his freshman season led the entire NCAA in receptions with 114 receptions, led all freshman wide receivers in receiving yards with 1,258 yards, and in receiving touchdowns with 12 touchdowns. Moore also was given 21 rushing attempts for 213 yards and 2 touchdowns and returned 33 kicks for 662 yards for an average of 20.1 yards per return. These numbers led to Moore being the first true freshman in Big Ten history to be a consensus All-American and he was also only the second true freshman to ever win the Paul Hornung award which is given to the most versatile player in college football. The other true freshman to do that was Christian McCaffrey. I want to remind you once again, Moore did this as a TRUE FRESHMAN, not on Ohio State, not on Penn State, not on Wisconsin, not on Michigan, but on Purdue!
Now let’s take a look at Rondale Moore’s physical traits. Moore at The Opening which tests the best incoming college recruits ran a 4.33 40 which was the best of anyone, had a vertical jump 42.7 inches which was second best out of anyone, and his Nike SPARQ score was 133.62 which was the best out of anyone. This is not only what he did on that day. Watch this clip of Moore competing in drills at The Opening.
Now, something that Rondale Moore doubters will point to is that Moore is only 5 foot 9 and 180 pounds. Which is small for a wide receiver but I want you to watch this video of Moore who I will remind you here again is 5 foot 9 180 pounds, squatting 600 POUNDS….
Here is another clip recently of the 5 foot 9 180 pound Moore bench pressing 405 pounds…
One word to describe all of these impressive feats of athleticism, strength, and quickness, is WORK. If you don’t think that Moore isn’t one of the hardest-working players in college football, let me give you a quote from his head coach and one story from his wide receiver coach at Purdue about Moore’s work ethic. Jeff Brohm who is Purdue’s head coach said last year during the National Football Foundation Honors Dinner that Moore, “wants to be the best, we work out our guys with some of the high-tech stuff you monitor and how fast they’re going. We have some devices that help us determine if these guys are performing at top-end speed the entire practice. I don’t know how the exact dynamics work but our strength coaches do. They would tell me, normally in practice, Rondale Moore would measure out to 900 or whatever that is. While I couldn’t figure that out, the next closest guy for a measured workout was 450. That told me, wow, that’s pretty impressive. He’s going twice as hard as everyone else. That’s what he did every day in practice.”
The Boilermakers in Moore’s freshman season, had one of the biggest upsets of the season when they beat the #2 team in the nation at the time, Ohio State 49-20. Moore was far and away the best player in that game as he torched the Buckeyes for 12 receptions for 170 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns as may I remind you again, a TRUE FRESHMAN. Purdue’s wide receiver coach Jamarcus Shepherd received a text from Moore at 3 a.m. The text was about a block that Moore missed in the game. So what that means was Moore wasn’t out celebrating the huge win, he was grinding by watching film. That is not normal for any player to be doing that, let alone a true freshman.
Speaking of film we get to the fun part. Let’s take a look at Rondale Moore’s film. Moore is at his best when you can get him the ball in his hands because he knows how to make something happen every time he touches the ball. Here is a great representation of Moore’s run after the catch ability.
Still not impressed? Watch this play against Ohio State where he makes the entire Buckeyes defense look silly for a game-sealing touchdown.
Still want to see more from Moore? Watch this unbelievable ability to avoid this tackle that could’ve resulted in a safety.
Here is another clip of Moore with the ball in his hands. He makes a great catch knowing he is going to get hit by an incoming defender, but just watch the play and see what happens.
There are plenty of clips highlighting Moore’s RAC ability, but here is one last clip highlighting that RAC ability from Moore’s debut game when he set Purdue’s all-time single-game record for all-purpose yards with 313 yards.
If you want to see some of Moore’s route running, watch these two routes Moore runs against Vanderbilt. On the first route, Moore freezes the defensive back on this sick slant route and picks up the first down and the second route you can see how quick he is from in and out of his breaks with another great slant route and catches the ball away from his body.
The last two clips I want to show are going to highlight Moore’s great ability to catch the ball. The first clip is a clip against Vanderbilt where he plays this time on the outside which is where you don’t see him play a whole lot but watch his ability to track the ball and maintain his balance.
That is not normal for a guy of Moore’s size to be doing things like that. The last clip I will show for Moore is a touchdown catch against Boston College. Watch the catch he makes here, that is a tough catch that he has to reach for away from his body and then he makes the defender miss.
Moore at the NFL level is going to be a weapon that NFL offensive coordinators cannot wait to get their hands on and a problem for defensive coordinators with his unbelievable athleticism and wide receiver instincts and abilities. A great comparison for Moore in my opinion is future hall of famer Steve Smith Sr. Not just because of the size and the ability to dominate from the slot but Smith and Moore are two very tough football players who have an incredible work ethic. Even the speed, Smith Sr. back in his prime you can see possessed 4.4 like game speed. Moore might even be faster which is a scary sight for opposing defenses.
With Moore now heading into his junior season, he will have a huge opportunity to have a huge bounce-back season. He and wide receiver David Bell are going to be a great dynamic duo for the Boilermakers and knowing the work that Moore puts in to become a better football player, is what makes me confident that he will be back with a vengeance this season.
Chris Vaughn, who has been working with Moore since he was in middle school, has been working with Moore this offseason even with the coronavirus pandemic. When talking about Moore’s progression this offseason, Vaughn said that “he has gotten even more explosive and gotten stronger. And he has become a better route-runner. You just don’t see kids like him. He’s an overachiever who’s already better than everybody athletically….that guy isn’t even human, you know what I mean? The things he is doing … it’s literally unreal. It’s super genetics, with a lot of hard work and a lot of determination and unwavering focus and determination to get to a goal….the only day he takes off is Sunday, he has been going at it. The kid is a workhorse. Running, catching balls, bouncing balls, agility work, running routes, stuff like that. He’s being a pro.”
I am excited to see Moore back for this season and I am ready to see one of my favorite players in college football re-introduce himself to the rest of the Big Ten and the rest of College Football.
Brandon's Breakdowns 