What's going on with Duke football's Jordan Moore?

Duke football's senior wide receiver Jordan Moore looked like he was in the conversation for best deep threat in the ACC through the first two games of the season. He and quarterback Maalik Murphy had an instant connection with Moore's ability to make contested catches and break off on deep routes. But over the last four weeks of the season, we've seen Moore's production fall off.

Through the first two games of the season, Moore totaled eighteen catches for 233 yards and a touchdown, proving to be the Blue Devils' top target in Duke's pass-heavy offensive scheme. But over the last four weeks of the season, Moore has tallied just twelve catches for 210 yards to go along with two touchdown catches.

After the first two games Duke played in 2024, Moore looked well on his way to becoming the first Blue Devil receiver to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season since Jamison Crowder did it in 2014. He was also on pace to potentially break Crowder's catch record set in 2013, but that looks like it's slipping away as the season moves forward.

Moore still has the potential for a special season in 2024 and can absolutely surpass 1,000 yards receiving if he can find his consistency again, but it's a little confusing why we've seen such a decline in his numbers since week two.

After his monstrous first two games of the season, it seems obvious opposing defenses are going to put their number one options on him and we've seen Moore have two guys garnering his attention at times too.

Another factor that plays into this is the changes offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer has made with the offense as weeks progress. We've seen the run become a much more prominent factor on a regular basis over the last few weeks, and Duke is simply passing the ball less in games.

Through the first three weeks of the season, Murphy averaged about 41 pass attempts per game, and over the last three games Duke has played, he's averaging just 29 pass attempts per game. Moore is still seeing his fair share of targets, but the actual number of opportunities themselves have dropped a fair margin over the most recent three games of the season.

Currently with 443 yards on the season receiving, Moore will need to average about 93 receiving yards a game for the rest of the season (or about 80 if Duke makes a bowl game) to eclipse 1,000 yards. He's eclipsed 80 yards just once since week two, but went for 100-plus receiving yards in each of his first two games, so it's easy to see him being able to get back into his early-season form.