Los Angeles Chargers undrafted rookie spotlight: Jason Moore
By Travis Wakeman
If you’re wondering where in the heck Findlay University is, you’re probably not alone. But can a player from a small, unknown school such as that make it in the NFL?
We can all think back to just a couple of years ago when Austin Ekeler joined the team from Western State University. Few people knew where the school was and even less gave him a chance to make an NFL roster.
That’s not to say that Jason Moore will end up overcoming the same kind of odds, but it does mean he shouldn’t be written off just because he comes from Findlay University, which, by the way, is a small school in Findlay, Ohio.
Findlay is not known for its athletics program. The football team competes in Division II and the only other player aside from Moore that I could find on record of making it to the NFL was Harold Jones-Quartey, an undrafted safety who played for five different NFL teams and had 103 tackles and two interceptions during his career.
Moore will be the next player to try to put Findlay on the national map but he’ll have to climb the depth chart of the Los Angeles Chargers at wide receiver and outperform many experienced players in order to hang around past this summer.
He finished his college career by hauling in 204 passes for 3,217 yards and 39 touchdowns. He holds virtually every major receiving record at Findlay and will now look to apply what he can do to the professional level.
At 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds, Moore has the kind of size that the Chargers love in their wide receivers. He participated in two different pro days, one at Toledo and the other at Miami of Ohio. He was able to post a 4.57-second 40-yard dash, a vertical leap of 37 inches and 17 bench press reps of 225 pounds. Those numbers are more than respectable.
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It leads to a belief that Moore’s combination of size and speed, which was clearly too much for more Division II defenders to handle, could actually give him a shot at success in the NFL.
Quarterbacks love a guy they can throw a jump ball up to and Moore is that guy. He will have his work cut out for him to get past some of the receivers on the roster, but he is an intriguing prospect, to say the least.
Chance to make final roster (1-10 scale): 2.5
Anything is possible at the wide receiver position this summer and though the wide receiver room is a crowded one, it’s a position ripe for someone to step up and make the team out of nowhere.
Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Travis Benjamin are going to make this team, but after that, all bets are off. Dylan Cantrell, Artavis Scott, Geremy Davis and Andre Patton will all compete for the No. 4 and 5 wide receiver spots, but maybe the Chargers will keep a sixth target? Should that happen, Moore has every chance to be that guy.
At the very least, Moore should be able to corral one of the 10 spots on the team’s practice squad and have the time to develop his raw skills into that of a productive NFL wide receiver.
This concludes this year’s undrafted spotlight series. For a look at every one of the team’s other undrafted free agents, click the links below.