Texas Football: Joshua Moore will do a little bit of everything for Sark

Amid an offseason that has roughly hit its halfway mark at this point, all of the change the Texas football program went through thus far is likely starting to set in. Texas hasn’t really had what you might call a “normal offseason” in a long time, though. This new normal of constant change is something that actually isn’t anything new for the former blue-chip recruit and redshirt junior wide receiver Joshua Moore.

For the first half of last season, Moore looked to be one of the true breakthrough stars in the Big 12. In the first four games last season alone, Moore racked up 328 receiving yards and a whopping six touchdown catches. He mostly slowed down throughout the second half of the regular season.

At least Moore ended the season on a high note with an 86-receiving yard and two-touchdown performance in the dominant Alamo Bowl win over the Colorado Buffaloes. That helped Moore finish last season with a total of just over 470 receiving yards on 30 catches (15.7 yards per catch), and a team-leading nine receiving touchdowns.

With the way that Texas fans are discussing how the new offense will come together under new head coach Steve Sarkisian this fall, you would think that most forget Moore exists. A lot of the discussion among who the top targets in the passing game will be this fall goes to the likes of junior Jake Smith, redshirt sophomore Jordan Whittington, incoming freshman Xavier Worthy, and/or redshirt freshman Troy Omeire.

We should not forget about the value that Moore brings to the table for the Longhorns, as one of their most versatile and explosive skill position weapons.

A new role for Texas football WR Joshua Moore

Last fall, Texas used Moore in a multitude of different looks off of the line of scrimmage under former offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and head coach Tom Herman. The bulk of the snaps that Moore took with the Longhorns last fall came out wide (roughly 80 percent). But he did have roughly 20 percent of his snaps come out of the slot.

Even as a true freshman back in 2018, the bulk of Moore’s snaps came out of the slot. He’s got a plethora of different looks he’s got experience in under his belt.

And he was pretty effective in both spots.

What also bodes well for Moore’s spot in this receiving corps is how efficient he was in the passing game last season. He only had one drop, and there was only one pick tossed when targets went his way, compared to nine touchdown catches.

He also helped Texas rack up more than 20 first downs, while having an average depth of target for looks in the passing game just north of 13 yards.

That’s not to say that Moore didn’t make a lot of things happen after he made the catch. Moore was one of the team leaders last season in yards per catch (just south of 200). He also was one of Texas’ best in yards after catch per route run (at around 1.75).

It’s clear from Moore’s production last season that he’s able to handle a multitude of different route schemes while lining up in different receiver slots. Sark’s creativity with his offense that he showed during his time with the Alabama Crimson Tide staff should be able to make good use out of Moore.

What also bodes well for the role that Moore will hold under Sark’s new offense is that he was good in the blocking game down the stretch last season. He was one of the three highest-graded run blockers for the Longhorns at wide receiver in the last three games of last season.

There are other areas of Moore’s game that will help him come in handy for Sark and the Longhorns this fall. He rarely drops the ball, has never fumble and has never got a single penalty called against him.

The effectiveness of Moore in multiple regards is vastly underrated, and but it’s something that Sark and the new Texas coaching staff should pick up on right away. Watch out for Moore to be a big impact player in this receiving corps once again in 2021.

Texas finished up last season under Herman’s direction with a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12). Sark was hired as the next head coach to replace Herman back on Jan. 2. They about set to begin summer workouts with a new set of enrollees coming into the program this weekend.