Taylor Lewan and A.J. Brown push for Titans to draft Elijah Moore

Mississippi wide receiver Elijah Moore (8) drives into the end zone for a touchdown past Vanderbilt during the second quarter at Vanderbilt Stadium Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn.Nas Vandy Olemiss 028
Mississippi wide receiver Elijah Moore (8) drives into the end zone for a touchdown past Vanderbilt during the second quarter at Vanderbilt Stadium Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn.Nas Vandy Olemiss 028 /
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Keep an eye on Elijah Moore to the Titans.

Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson is going to pick who he wants to pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but Taylor Lewan and A.J. Brown both have someone that they would like to see in Two-Tone blue.

The player in question is Elijah Moore, the do-it-all receiver for Ole Miss this season.

After the addition of Josh Reynolds this offseason, the Tennessee Titans should already have their “starting” wide receivers in place. All indications from Thursday’s press conference with Reynolds point to him filling the “Z” receiver role for the Titans opposite the “X” that is A.J. Brown.

However, that doesn’t mean that the Titans front office won’t agree with A.J. Brown during the draft because Elijah Moore looks like he is worth a high pick and he would be a perfect fit in this offense.

Moore put on a show yesterday during his Pro Day and ended up with some eye-popping numbers like a 4.35 40-yard dash, a 4.00 shuttle, a 1.52 10-yard split, and a 6.65 3-cone drill. All of those either put him in the 95th percentile or higher, which is obviously outstanding.

What makes him more appealing, especially to Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson, is that he fits the “Matias Wodner rule” that the Titans front office has stuck to for the last five years.

For those unfamiliar, the Matias Wodner rule is that every receiver Jon Robinson spends a draft pick on MUST have two or more 1,000-yard seasons. Looking back from 2014-2019 there are only 39 players with 2+ 1,000 yard seasons, so just under 8 receivers per draft class.

Robinson has drafted four of those receivers (Corey Davis, A.J. Brown, Tajae Sharpe, and Taywan Taylor) and those are the only receivers he has spent draft picks on. At this point, you can doubt whether it is mandatory for a college receiver to produce like that, but it is definitely a strong preference.

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Why that time frame?

2014-2019 is the time frame you have to look at because if Jon Robinson’s first draft was the 2016 NFL Draft, then that draft would have come after the 2015 college season. So if you are looking for a player with two years of 1,000 season you have to go back to at least 2014. Similarly, it won’t help to look at players from the 2020 season because they don’t apply to what I’m talking about.

Back to Moore

This is important because Elijah Moore is going to challenge this rule. Given the limited season, maybe the rule morphs into “receivers with 2,000+ yards over the last two years” which is close, but also very different.

Without that change, the rule suggests that the only receivers Jon Robinson would look at would be: DeVonta Smith, Damonte Coxie, and Dyami Brown.

With the change, the only player that would be added to the list is, you guessed it, Elijah Moore.

If there was ever an exception to the rule, it seems like betting on a player that your team likes who played in the SEC and tested exceptionally well, seems like the right gamble. Oh, and even with the shortened season, there has only been one other 3-year player in Ole Miss history with more yards than Elijah Moore.

A.J. Brown.