Along with everything else, Skyy Moore brings humility to his game

Kansas City Chiefs rookie wide receiver Skyy Moore is becoming the sensation of the team’s 2022 training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. Every catch he makes on the practice field generates a flurry of admiring Twitter posts. Every word he says is immediately spread across the Internet.

Analysts have actually been gushing for quite a while.

“I’ve been a Moore admirer for months,” wrote CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso in May. “Fell in love with the traits he showcased on film, and my grading system spit out a mid first-round grade on him. Now, he lands in Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes throwing him the football in Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy’s offense. How in the world could I back away from advocating for Moore now?”

NFL.com analytics expert Cynthia Frelund called Moore the top Day 2 value of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Moore ranked 23rd overall on my big board ahead of the draft. For the Chiefs to acquire a key player of need 31 selections later is exceptional value, and this pick makes them one of two teams to appear on both my Day 1 and 2 value lists. Pro Football Focus gave Moore a 91.8 receiving grade last season, the second-highest mark in the FBS among receivers. My models compared him to Houston Texans wideout Brandin Cooks, in large part due to his consistency as a route runner. Moore had 262 yards after contact in 2021 (tied for ninth in the FBS, per PFF) and forced 26 missed tackles on receptions (tied for the most in the FBS).

Just a couple of days ago, CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards called Moore one of the ‘must-see’ rookies of the preseason.

The 111 receptions for 1,239 yards and nine touchdowns in 2021 lost by the departure of Tyreek Hill will be hard to replace. It is unrealistic to expect Moore to match those numbers but he can eat into them significantly. Speed and route-running ability are the traits that stick out when discussing the Western Michigan wide receiver. Being in the right place at the right time should endear the rookie to quarterback Patrick Mahomes. With so many new faces in that Kansas City receiver room, Moore can separate himself during training camp.

But even a player taken in the second round (54th overall) is still... a rookie. First-year players of every shape and size can end up having fantastic seasons — or fall well short of expectations.

Moore’s coaches and teammates (not to mention Moore himself) have already expressed confidence in his ability to perform at a high level. And that’s great. But in the NFL, the other guy also gets paid to play — so a measure of humility is also a welcome trait in a rookie player. And Moore has been displaying that, too.

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Kansas City special teams coach Dave Toub said last week that he expects to make use of Moore as a punt returner. But he also acknowledged that Moore is a “work in progress” — simply because he has so little experience with it.

On Thursday, Moore agreed — saying that part of his development is “going good.” But he was willing to admit there are some unanswered questions about it.

“I haven’t really done it too much in-game in college,” he explained, “so it’s really just getting a feel for when I can take it, when I’ve got to fair catch and just doing the fundamentals of catching the punt.”

Moore also said that he’s been awed by watching tight end Travis Kelce go about his business.

“Before I came here, I knew Travis was the best tight end in the league,” he said. “But now, I’m seeing why. It’s about how patient and savvy he is through his route running. He’s very smart. So he’s not really working too much harder; he’s working smarter. He’s knowing, ‘Oh, there’s a dude out there. Im’ma give him a move this way’ and then just hook up. The knowledge that he has about the game makes him an even better route runner.”

Moore said he is impressed with the quality of the rookie defensive backs Kansas City has brought to the team this offseason.

“It’s been a battle against each one of them,” he said. “They’re tall, they’re long and [they’re] fast. I’m not the biggest guy, so those are the guys that I’m coming [at] with my A-game. And it’s just been a battle — for every single one of them.”

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Moore also expressed admiration for offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

“He’s going to demand the best out of you,” said Moore. “That’s my favorite type of coach. You know what I can do and I know what I can do. Sometimes it might get hard, but he’s going to get it out of you. That’s what I love about him.”

None of this would be a surprise to his Western Michigan position coach Greg Harbaugh Jr., who spoke to Stephen Serda during our “Rookie Conversations” series on the Arrowhead Pride podcast channel.

“He’s already talked to me about learning from [Travis] Kelce, JuJu [Smith-Schuster], and Marquez [Valdes-Scantling],” said Harbaugh. “He’s not shying away from that competition. He’s going to work to learn as much as he can from those guys because he wants to play.”

Talented? Yes. Confident? Absolutely. But perhaps the most encouraging thing about Moore is that he is also humble. He knows that every day, there is still something else to learn.

Will that mean he will instantly become a dominant NFL player? There is, of course, no way to know. But this young man is checking all the boxes.