What If Greg Newsome II Is Right About Elijah Moore?
Photo Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran via USA TODAY Sports
Last year the whole league laughed as Tyreek Hill spent training camp showering his new quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, with praise. “That’s just Tyreek pumping his guy up,” everybody said. “There’s no way Tua can be that good.” Cut to a few short months later, before the concussion concerns, and Tua was playing as well as any signal caller in the league.
NFL training camps are filled with players shouting glowing things about their new teammates. Often it’s just fluff, but sometimes it’s real. And when it’s real, it changes everything.
After just a few practices, Cleveland Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II was ready to go all in on one of his newest teammates. “One of the best I’ve been against,” Newsome said of former New York Jets receiver Elijah Moore. The NFL “better watch out,” he added while praising Moore’s speed and route running.
Maybe this is just a teammate getting loud in the media to support a new guy. But what if it’s not? What if there’s fire where Newsome sees smoke?
Moore and his 4.35 40-yard-dash speed obviously represent an immediate threat. But it’s the extra layers of that threat that could take the Browns’ offense to a whole new level.
Enter the jet sweep.
Here’s early training camp footage of Moore running the all-important play.
#Browns WR Elijah Moore can do so many things pic.twitter.com/iK9O67CfIy
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) July 24, 2023
Obviously it would be great to see the speedster get loose around the edge and take it to the house, but the threat of the jet is just as important as the jet itself. With his top-end explosiveness, Moore can act as window dressing to manipulate linebackers and allow Nick Chubb to dominate.
Saquon Barkley and the New York Giants worked this to perfection in their playoff upset of the Minnesota Vikings last season. It became comical watching the Giants execute while the Vikings’ defense seemed helpless.
Yowza, Eric Kendricks. pic.twitter.com/M6nrDdFi7Y
— Rob Searles (@RobBob17) July 15, 2023
The moment linebackers react to the potential jet sweep and take one false step, guys like Nick Chubb and Saquon Barkley are going to crush. When you factor in the Browns’ impressive O-line, it’s a recipe for ball-control domination.
On the flip side, Chubb’s presence will dictate a fair share of one-high coverages. Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones are both fantastic, but neither possess the skillset to devastate a defense with a singular shot in these situations. If Moore proves reliable, this becomes a pick-your-poison offense. Do you want to stop Chubb? Cool, Moore can kill you over the top. Want to take away Moore as well? Great, Cooper and Peoples-Jones will eat all over the field. Think you can stop all of them? Let me introduce you to David Njoku’s breakout season.
The precedent for Moore’s success came in Houston. Deshaun Watson destroyed defenses with the similarly skilled Will Fuller.
The Deshaun Watson splits with Will Fuller are just stupid. 16 game pace stats of:
4,612 passing yards, 44 TD, 16 INT
487/3 rushingWould have been second only to Mahomes in QB scoring last year, with a ~50 point lead on the QB3 (Matt Ryan).
— Anthony Amico (@amicsta) May 27, 2019
I think it’s time for Deshaun Watson and Will Fuller to run it back #Browns. pic.twitter.com/1gX5qzBM2i
— Tyler Johnson (@T_johnson_TJ) May 22, 2022
If all of this is possible and Newsome is already touting his teammate at such a dramatic level, the obvious question is: Why is he in Cleveland? The New York Jets were bringing in Aaron Rodgers! You don’t think he’d love to have a weapon like this? The Jets essentially moved on from Moore for Mecole Hardman, a guy who has proven himself to be a WR3 at best.
So, is it reasonable to expect Moore to live up to these expectations? The answer to that question lies in the secrets of the Jets’ locker room. If the discontent between the parties had gotten so bad due to poor quarterback play and play calling that it was not repairable, then everything described here is possible. If it was as simple as the guy doesn’t know what he’s doing, everything is off the table. From an outsider’s perspective, it seems far more likely that this was an Odell-in-Cleveland situation than a Jalen-Reagor-in-Philadelphia situation.
Only time will tell, but if Greg Newsome II is right about Elijah Moore, the Browns may have the sort of offense that could put them on a deep deep playoff run.
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