Michigan picked up a pair of commitments on July 1 and the first of the two to get a hello is 3* WR Fredrick Moore from St. Louis, MO. Moore is the second WR in the class after Semaj Morgan, and his commitment helps to further give Michigan a little more steam on the recruiting trail as we get further into July. 

 

GURU RATINGS

Rivals: 6'1/159	ESPN: 6'0/175	247: 6'0/175	On3: 6'0/180	247 Comp
4*, 5.8, NR Ovr #41 WR, #11 MO	3*, 77, #177 MW, NR Ovr #104 WR, #16 MO	3*, 89, NR Ovr #52 WR, #12 MO	3*, 87, #547 Ovr #83 WR, #13 MO	3*, 0.8825, #491 Ovr #62 WR, #12 MO

Pretty varying opinions here in terms of ranking among WRs: one placing him inside the top 50, one just outside the top 50, one in the middle of the 50-100 range, and one outside the top 100. Interestingly, Rivals, the site that's highest on Moore, is also the one that has him as the lightest, a good sixteen pounds lighter than any other site has him listed at(!). They're also the only site to convey upon him 4* status. If you're thinking "hey wait a second, wasn't Ronnie Bell also a low-rated WR recruit from Missouri?", that is correct, but we shall see whether that is a fitting comparison or not. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: a track athlete with speed concerns?]

 

SCOUTING

Lucas Reimink of Rivals gives us the first take on Moore as a prospect, with a decently detailed scouting report. That piece highlights Moore's contested catch ability as his greatest attribute ($): 

(Moore) does show solid hands, good toughness, good body control, and a good ability to focus on catching the ball in traffic which all combine to make him good in contested catch situations. He also shows solid leaping ability to be able to go up and get jump balls in the red zone despite being only 6’1”.

Touch The Banner echoes some elements of that, with the following excerpts: 

Moore does it on a variety of types of catches, from screens that he takes the distance to deep shots and 50/50 balls ... He also has long arms and can catch the ball away from his body.

Beyond his contested catch ability, most of the other components of Moore's game get decent review. Something you see in a number of these scouting reports is the word "good", which EJ Holland points out ($): 

On film, Moore is a good pass catcher, does a good job of high pointing the ball, shows good speed, good route running ability and looks good in both the slot and the outside. Good, good, good. Moore is good at everything but not great at any one thing

As a non-blue chip prospect playing at a non-powerhouse school who only picked up interest in the last few months, many of the evaluators have not seen Moore live, something EJ noted he wants to do this fall to get a better sense of Moore's abilities. The difficulty assessing him off tape leads to some degree of conflict, with disagreements popping up about Moore's route-running, from a negative route running assessment in Rivals to a more positive one from Magnus and EJ. 

What does appear pretty consistent in the scouting reports is that Fredrick Moore's speed, stemming from his track career, is a problem. Rivals phrased it more as "explosion" than speed, and EJ stated in the quoted excerpt above that the speed looks fine on tape, but nearly every report I read flagged his 11.55 time in the 100 meter dash as a major issue. It's not a particularly impressive time in a college football context and as I highlight in the "FAKE 40 TIME" section, it would've gotten you laughed away at the Olympics. Magnus goes further to dispute EJ's opinion that the speed looks okay on tape: 

I have questions about Moore’s speed. While he does have excellent on-field production, he ran an 11.55 in the 100 meters as a sophomore – which is nothing too special – and does not have great top-end speed on film. His big plays are largely built on the craftiness of his route running, the space created by his offensive play designers, and his willingness to be daring, hit holes, and make something happen

The scouting beyond these points (most things: good; speed: iffy) is much more sparse, since Moore is relatively new on the radars. Overall, it seems like you're looking at a player with a solid, well-rounded toolkit and good HS production who has this major potential problem of straight line speed/explosion and a good amount of fuzziness/uncertainty due to him being underscouted. 

OFFERS

Moore held offers from a good mix of B1G, Big 12, and ACC schools. Every B1G team besides Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, UCLA, USC, and Northwestern offered Moore, as did Iowa State, Kansas, and WVU out of the Big 12, and Syracuse, Duke, and BC out of the ACC. Remaining straggler offers came from Cincy, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Vandy, Colorado, Miami (OH), and Arkansas State. Illinois was rumored to be making a late NIL-fueled run at Moore that never materialized. Otherwise, Michigan was the only suitor seriously discussed. 

HIGH SCHOOL 

Moore attends Cardinal Ritter College Prep in St. Louis (MO). They were a mediocre 7-7 last season and a quick scan at their recent past reveals a massive rollercoaster, going 16-1 in 2018 and then 0-10 in 2019 (!). Since then they've been much closer to .500. Cardinal Ritter plays in Class 3 and last season went to the semifinals before losing to St. Pius X Thanksgiving weekend. Moore's team has a few players with D1 interest, including S Marvin Burks Jr., who is a top 300 recruit, but they are not a national (or state) powerhouse laden with future FBS talent. 

One more note: Moore's story at Cardinal Ritter is linked with that of Luther Burden, a 5* WR in the 2022 class who left Cardinal Ritter before the 2021 season, transferring to East St. Louis HS, which paved Moore's pathway to more playing time. 

STATS 

After Luther transferred, Moore got a much larger role in 2021 and was able to stitch together a good season, hauling in 12 TDs on 41 catches for 1,010 yards. Also ran back three kicks for TDs.  

FAKE 40 TIME 

I couldn't find a 40-time, but as noted in the scouting section, we have 100 m and 400 m times from his track days that are very much not FAKE. He has been recorded as running a 11.55 100 and a 51.43 400 m. That 100 time was slower than any run in the 2020 Summer Olympics, as was the case for his 400 time. Let's just say that Moore's future in football seems much brighter than his future in track. 

VIDEO

Here's Moore's junior season highlight reel from Hudl: 

ETC 

Also a track athlete. 

 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

Right now, Moore is an extremely productive and versatile high school WR with a good deal of uncertainty about how well his tools will translate to the NCAA. He has not been seen all that much by national scouts, so we're all going off the same tape. If you watch his Hudl tape above, Moore lines up in the slot or on the outside and runs plenty of screens, in addition to his deep routes. He has a lot of potential roles in this offense, but I think with a true slot guy in Morgan already in the class + a potential AJ Henning/Donovan Edwards type in Cole Cabana, the plan will be to use Moore on the outside more often. 

The speed is really the big question here and it's why I'm a bit tepid overall on Moore as a prospect. Sure, there are some similarities to Ronnie Bell in "highly productive 3* receiver from Missouri who also returns punts" but I'm not going to crown Moore as the next Bell right now. A WR with speed concerns is never a particularly great sign, and it's not like Moore has a gargantuan frame to compensate if he indeed has that speed issue.

It could be a temporary issue, the result of a poor day at the track or something, but I need to know that those concerns are not for real to buy in. Especially considering the fact he likely has to put on some weight to compete physically in the NCAA, as he is currently a very slim 6'1". If the speed concerns are real and he has to add 15 pounds, I can't say I'm the most optimistic. That said, if those issues are overblown, there is a well-rounded toolkit here and it's never a bad idea to bet on HS production, which Moore has plenty of right now (and will likely get more of this fall). 

UPSHOT FOR THE 2023 CLASS 

Moore is now the second WR in the class, joining Semaj Morgan. Michigan took 3 WRs last class, so they don't necessarily need a third, but with the way attrition works in modern college football, it may not be a bad idea to take a third. Moreover, with both of the WRs in the class being outside the top 250 type guys, a third option also wouldn't hurt. 5* Jalen Brown is set to commit today but is not likely to choose Michigan, so right now Idaho 3* WR Kenyon Sadiq seems to be a more likely option. That recruitment is a battle between Iowa State and Michigan.