Skyy Moore needed a better start than this—at least to finish well.
The Kansas City Chiefs are well into training camp in St. Joseph. The pads are on, and the practices are long as the team gears up for their first preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. Given the intense competition for the final spots on the depth chart at each position, Moore is going to need a memorable summer to cement his spot.
Unfortunately for Moore, he's been forced to miss multiple days of practice with a hamstring injury. It happened again on Friday as most of the rest of his teammates returned to the field after a day away.
Moore's inability to take the field is hardly his fault at this point. A hamstring injury is just something that happens, so it's not a reflection on anything he did wrong. That said, the Chiefs can only make decisions based on what they're seeing in front of them, and it is on Moore that he's in a tenuous position in the first place.
Skyy Moore is on thin ice and this hamstring injury is only making things worse.
As the team's second-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, Moore was one of the Chiefs' bigger investments at wide receiver in the last five years. After sliding down a few spots to pick up a late pick from the New England Patriots, the Chiefs selected Moore as a receiver out of Western Michigan with excellent hands.
Through three seasons so far in Kansas City, Moore has totals of 43 catches for 494 yards in 36 games. In fact, he only has 74 total targets in that time. Samaje Perine had half that many last year, if that tells you anything. The trust isn't there, nor is the emphasis.
Things look even worse for Moore when you consider the fact that the team has been so desperate for playmakers in the last two seasons. Last year, Travis Kelce was less effective than ever as Patrick Mahomes' most trusted target. Injuries to Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice, Kadarius Toney, and others have cleared the way. Still, Moore failed to emerge as an option.
Even looking at the Chiefs' moves makes it clear that they were searching high and low for a receiver. They brought back Mecole Hardman in a mid-season deal. They've brought back JuJu Smith-Schuster. They traded for DeAndre Hopkins at last season's trade deadline. Some of those decisions would not have been made if the team had real belief in Moore.
If there's any hope for Moore, it's that the Chiefs could be giving him a mulligan for his 2024 campaign due to a core muscle injury that placed him on injured reserve. But any hope he returns stronger is only based on hope and nothing more. There's no consistent track record of productivity, and he remains out in camp while others generate more buzz and interest.
At this rate, it feels like Tyquan Thornton could get the nod over Moore if it comes down to those two (and others) battling for a final roster spot. Perhaps Rashee Rice will be suspended to start the year, which could leave an extra roster spot open at the position. But Moore is on thin ice and this hamstring injury is only making things worse.
