The Other Guys: Skyy Moore
By Kalani Jones

This week in our “The Other Guys” Series, I wanted to go in a slightly different direction. Today, we are going to take a look at someone that has certainly had a disappointing start to his career in the NFL, but hasn't done so in a Packers uniform.
The newest addition to the Packers wide receiver room (unless you count Bo Melton’s back and forth positional swaps): Skyy Moore.
Moore, signed to Green Bay on March 13th, enters an ideal situation in Green Bay. With the departure of Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks, the entire wide receiver looks much more streamlined, with a clear separation of roles and responsibilities. Moore fits nicely into this situation, as a backup with versatility across the entire field. Moore is still young enough to fit squarely in with what they already have on the roster. He was a part of the same 2022 draft class as Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. He’s 25 but will turn 26 during the 2026 season. Moore is a Pennsylvania native who played quarterback and defensive back in high school, and won both offensive and defensive player of the year awards along the way. Moore was not highly recruited out of high school due to his unclear positional status, but wound up converting to a totally new position altogether upon arriving at Western Michigan: wide receiver.
It was an instant success, as Moore won a first team All-MAC in his true freshman season. In 2021, Moore ended the season with 1291 yards and 10 touchdowns, while charting an impressive total of only 4 drops on 125 targets. He built a reputation during the draft cycle as a boom-or-bust slot receiver type, with blazing speed but major questions about his size.
Moore wound up selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round, the last of an extremely WR heavy round. Others taken in the 2022 second round were: Christian Watson, Wan’Dale Robinson, John Metchie III, Tyquan Thorton, George Pickens, and Alec Pierce. As a rookie, Moore appeared in sixteen games, of which he started three. He would finish the season with only 250 yards, but ended the playoffs that year with a couple of clutch plays. Against the Bengals in the AFC Championship game, Moore returned a punt 29 yards to set up a game winning field goal, and scored his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.
Moore’s 2023 and 2024 seasons were cut short by injuries, and he never quite lived up to his pre-draft hype. On August 21st 2025, Moore was traded from Kansas City to the San Francisco 49ers in a deal that also involved a sixth and seventh round pick swap. The trade was made as the 49ers were devastated by injuries at WR during training camp, with Jacob Cowing, Demarcus Robinson, Brandon Aiyuk and Jordan Watkins all expected to miss time at the start of the season. Even still, Moore finished the season with only 87 yards and no touchdowns. Of course, the real story of Moore’s signing was his impact on the special teams.
Up until his trade to San Francisco, Moore had only returned 22 kicks in the NFL, 6 kickoffs and 16 punts (with 20/22 coming in his rookie season). Those numbers exploded in 2025! Moore had the opportunity to return 67 total kicks as a 49er, 37 kickoffs and 30 punts. While none went for a touchdown, he did have a massive 98 yard return in week 11 versus the Cardinals. He averaged an extremely solid 26.9 yards per kickoff return (997 yards total), and 10.2 per punt return (307 yards total). Those numbers blow Green Bay’s averages and total yards out of the water entirely.
Now, Moore’s signing perked my ears when it was announced, because it’s actually the second time they’ve done this. Almost literally. A year ago, the Packers signed Mecole Hardman, a second round bust for the Kansas City Chiefs who found his niche in the special teams. But, I hope that is as far as the similarities will go, as Hardman never played for the Packers in the 2025 regular season. For Green Bay to make such a move two years in a row, especially after not following through on it the first time, seems to signal (at least to me) a certain appetite to keep this kind of player around in 2026. Could the Packers have had some regrets in letting Hardman go last year? It’s not hard to imagine, after watching Romeo Doubs serve as the primary punt returner and having a revolving door (at best) at kick return. Then to rub salt in the wound, Hardman ended up as a contributor for the Buffalo Bills in their postseason game against the Broncos.
Now, does Moore have anything left as a wide receiver? As I mentioned, he certainly has a better chance than he would have had last year. If I had to guess right now, I think Bo Melton would probably be above Moore in the receiving pecking order, but even the sixth receiver in a modern NFL offense gets plenty of chances to see the field. Savion Williams, who was sixth last year, saw 91 total snaps on offense last year himself, about 40 less than Moore himself had on the Niners last season. Williams could be considered a special case, with MLF’s insistence to get the rookie the football in a number of creative ways. It’s clear that Moore will not be getting that same treatment in 2026. Even so, Moore will get reps.
The interesting facet in this discussion comes down to body types. At 5’10” 195lbs, Moore possesses an extremely similar build to Jayden Reed (5' 11” 187lbs) and Matthew Golden (5’11” 191lbs). It’s well known how important a receiver’s blocking ability is to MLF’s offense, and so if you are trying to get too many of these guys onto the field at the same time, are you trading blocking to do that? For what it’s worth, Moore did finish 2025 with a higher run blocking grade than Reed or Golden. Heck, it was even higher than Christian Watson or Savion Williams (only Bo Melton finished with a better run blocking score in 2025, a 77.0 to Moore’s 62.6 grade.
When it comes to alignment across the field, I mentioned that Moore is extremely versatile across the field, but I was surprised to find that he’s consistently played in the slot less than he has out wide. In 2025, the ratio was 95 to 32! The ratios are mostly similar from his time in Kansas City as well, his rookie season excepting which was 195-181 in favor of a slot alignment. I'll be extremely interested to see where Green Bay chooses to use him, when he does get a chance to see the field.
Of course, this entire article is based on the premise that Moore will actually make the team, something that is not set in stone. We saw this last year with Mecole Hardman, when most of the fanbase (me included) assumed he would make the team for his special teams contributions, but was ultimately cut. Moore’s contract guarantees him absolutely nothing, even with $1 million of his $2.5 million dollar contract guaranteed. We saw the Packers light a million dollars on fire when they cut Brandon McManus a few weeks ago, despite having already awarded McManus a roster bonus back in March. So while I do think it’s more likely than not that Moore makes the team, he’s still got to earn his spot. He’ll have to fend off young options like J Micheal Sturdivent, or potentially even Bo Melton for that spot, depending on how many receivers actually want to keep.
I hope Brian Gutekunst’s comments about investing into the special teams can ring true, and perhaps giving new special teams coordinator Cam Achord a dedicated returner is a way to make true on that.
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Co-Owner of the thirteen time world champion Green Bay Packers. Sometimes I write about them. Follow me on Twitter at https://x.com/kjones_in_co and on Substack for film breakdowns!
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Comments (22)
Savage57
June 08, 2026 at 06:39 am
Let's hope the Packers have finally found the key to reversing their woeful special teams return play with Moore.
Then no one will care how many passes he catches.
Desmond Howard, ver 2.0. Is that too much to ask?
stockholder
June 08, 2026 at 06:43 am
Desmond Howard?
Let's hope he's special.
T7Steve
June 08, 2026 at 07:16 am
What shouldn't be overlooked while trying to find a niche for him is only "4 drops". Not having drops is almost like having a first down machine.
GregC
June 08, 2026 at 07:18 am
I have yet to hear an explanation for why Moore's career as a WR has crashed and burned. The Chiefs have not had a ton of talent at WR, and the 49ers desperately needed help at that position due to all their injuries, yet neither team gave Moore much playing time on offense. Is he a poor route runner? Does he have a hard time beating press coverage? He is on the small side, but he's not tiny, so it's not just his size.
What Moore has going for him that Mecole Hardman did not is that Moore is coming off a really good season as a return man. Hardman had done some decent work as a returner as a rookie but had done very little returning in the six years before joining the Packers. It may have been a stretch to think he was going to solve their returning problems, and when he got the chance to field kickoffs in the preseason, he looked like a pee wee leaguer back there.
I don't worry too much about kickoff returns. Get a guy back there who can field it cleanly, advance the ball, and not fumble. The differences between kickoff returners are not that big because there is less open field to work with than there is on punt returns. Savion Williams was not a bad kickoff returner for the Packers last year. But punt returning is much more dynamic. Make the first guy miss, and you might gain ten yards, which is already a good return. Make two guys miss, and you could take it to the end zone. Romeo Doubs didn't make anybody miss last year. I'm hoping Skyy Moore can be a difference maker as a punt returner, and that's it. Savion Williams can continue returning kickoffs as far as I'm concerned.
As for WR, it seems doubtful that after years of failure to establish himself at that position, Moore is suddenly going to do better with the Packers. They already have more smallish WRs than usual, and they are all more accomplished than he is. I don't put any stock in his high run blocking grade in 2025. That was based on a small sample size, and I'm not sure how reliable those grades are anyway.
golfpacker61
June 08, 2026 at 08:10 am
Well, it seems pretty clear you are not a Skyy Moore fan Greg. I happen to like this low cost move. As far as blocking goes, you are either good or bad at it. You have to have good technique, and you have to put real effort into it to be successful. Moore is good at both and even though you don't give it much merit, the coaches sure will.
If Moore makes the team, and I think he will, the kick returning will be the main reason. Hardman was pretty much used up when he came to GB, Moore is 25 and in his prime. And he has shown real skill in returning kicks in spite of never having done that in college. He was a D-Back and QB in high school and became a very successful WR in college. He is elusive and sudden which are good traits for a KR.
"I have yet to hear an explanation for why Moore's career as a WR has crashed and burned. The Chiefs have not had a ton of talent at WR"
Despite having the NFLs best QB, the Chiefs haven't had many WR highlights since trading Tyreek Hill, so I can't blame Moore's failure to breakout completely on him. I read that KC wanted him to return kicks as a rookie even though Moore hadn't done that before. He mishandled some and lost confidence that carried over to his WR duties. 2024 & 2025 were marred by injuries and they lost faith in him and made the trade.
Moore came out of college with the rep of having great hands so he has more skills to offer GB. This WR group as a whole. including all the backups have good hands and most are good blockers too. There is no reason to think if given the chances, Moore could catch 20-30 passes this year, especially if Reed misses time. Our backups have little game experience but have great potential. I am excited to have Moore, Shepard, Williams, Neyor, Sturdivant and Melton as our backup WRs.
GregC
June 08, 2026 at 08:32 am
I wouldn't say that I'm "not a Skyy Moore fan." I just think that after four years in the league, he probably is who he is: a player who has been unable to earn much time at WR but who is coming off a really good season as a punt returner. I am excited to have him joining the team. I think he will make the roster and be a good returner. Anything he can contribute at WR is a bonus.
Coldworld
June 08, 2026 at 08:32 am
Greg, that had been puzzling me too. So I’ve been digging into Moore a bit. Here’s a summary.
He missed seven games with a knee issue in 2023 and most of 2024 with a core muscle injury. He didn’t catch a pass that year. He was also believed to have struggled to master Reid’s offensive playbook throughout his time in KC. His routes were inconsistent and he struggled to separate as a result and he really struggled against press. He also had drop issues.
He was regarded as struggling to get on the same page as the QBs in SF too. That is supposedly why he was used so little on a SF offense severely deprived of healthy WRs. He only ran 67 routes the entire season.
Other than that, he had issues with fumbles. In KC his ST ball security was deemed unreliable enough to get him benched. That continued over into SF where he muffed his first punt and dropped multiple passes. The suspicion was that he gets too tense and thus fights himself. He’s admitted to have been terrified of dropping returns. Eventually he seemed to relax a bit last season, so maybe he’s just found a better frame of mind through experience? He did muff a punt in the playoffs.
Overall, despite being severely depleted, SF couldn’t find a way he could contribute on offense. His sole value was seen as STs. If his blocking is better than Reed’s and Golden, that’s concerning, because he was viewed as a liability in SF, an offense where, like here, WRs are expected to.
The suggestion is that Moore only got a chance as a returner in SF due to the injury to Jacob Cowing (an even smaller 4th round pick from 2024). Cowing is looking like he’s the favorite to return for them this year thus far apparently.
My suspicion is that Moore is a lot less likely to interest LaFleur as a WR than many people think. If he sticks I think he sees the offense rarely except as a gadget. His route to the roster is being sufficiently better as a returner than any other option that they have to keep him. That assumes his fumble issues do not reappear. Perhaps last year has persuaded us that’s more important than it was seen as a year ago?
As a pure WR, Hardman might actually have had a little more to offer. The more I dug, the less enthused I became about Moore as part of the O. Since neither Reed nor Golden have handled press well, I admit that that is already something of a concern of mine. Keeping 3 or 4 (if Melton makes it) of that type active on game day seems risky and unlikely to me.
I think he’s going to have to grab the returning role unequivocally this summer or perhaps hope we keep 7 WRs with him really a +1 STer. Unless, of course, he breaks out and shows acumen he hasn’t hitherto on O this summer. He’s still young enough that’s not impossible. His route technique stands to be improved dramatically: doing so would change the equation potentially.
GregC
June 08, 2026 at 08:50 am
Thanks Coldworld, that is helpful info. The ball security issues are a bit concerning, but I hope he has put that behind him. I think it is acceptable for a punt returner to muff one punt per year, and maybe even two if he is really good. Nobody's perfect and sometimes conditions are tricky due to weather and/or the ball having a weird trajectory. Moore has much more positive momentum as a returner than Hardman did when he joined the Packers, so am hopeful that he will succeed.
Bear
June 08, 2026 at 03:19 pm
Coldworld: Thanks for for the deep research much appreciated!
BuckyBadger
June 08, 2026 at 09:00 am
His speed in the MAC didn't really translate to the NFL. If you aren't as speedster at 5'10" you get lost in the shuffle.
dobber
June 08, 2026 at 09:46 am
His testing implies that he has good get-off, and his straight-line speed is OK, but his agility and explosion were no great shakes...which argues he's got to be a real technician to make it go.
Guam
June 08, 2026 at 07:29 am
I have no idea how Skyy Moore will do as a Packer, but it is clear that Kansas City does not do well drafting wide receivers in the second round. Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore were both recent second round picks of the Chiefs and neither has worked out successfully for them. And this from an organization that has recently won multiple Super Bowls and has Pat Mahomes at QB. Every GM has misses.......
Oxymoron 3339
June 08, 2026 at 11:10 am
Yeah when the Chiefs GM misses he still nails the draft. Go look at the Chiefs 2022 Draft. Even with a Bust in Moore the rest of the draft was spot on. That’s why they are a dynasty, because there GM is great.
golfpacker61
June 08, 2026 at 08:29 am
Injuries cost Moore the whole 2024 season in KC, as well as part of 2025. Record wise, the Chiefs were very successful in 2023 & 2024, winning 2 Super Bowls, but their WRs performance was nothing special. Different teams have different timetables for players. The Chiefs gave up on Moore early and just tried to get anything back for him. The Packers players are lucky GB has more patience, especially LVN, Wyatt, Lloyd, Hopper and others.
Moore has a good shot to make the team and if pressed into WR duties, I think he will show off those skills that made him an All-American. He could be a real steal and wild card for the Pack this year.
GregC
June 08, 2026 at 10:21 am
Moore did indeed miss the entire 2024 season, but according to the source I read, he played in all 17 games for the 49ers in 2025. Yes, the Chiefs were quick to give up on him, maybe in part because they drafted Xavier Worthy. Thanks to you and Coldworld for looking some of this stuff up. It should've been in the article.
Snap the ball
June 08, 2026 at 08:39 am
Making they can put him in motion vs Reed every play.
dobber
June 08, 2026 at 08:58 am
When the Packers signed Hardman a year ago, it struck me as a move to try to add some cheap speed and experience to the WR room to mitigate the loss of downfield snaps due to Watson's injury and to potentially make it so Gute didn't need to reach for a WR in round 1 (I don't call Golden a reach). With Watson's recovery being mostly trouble free, drafting Golden and Williams made the WR room very crowded and Hardman really needed to stick as a returner. When he muffed one of his first opportunities in preseason, well, so much for that.
I really liked Moore coming out of WMU--productive, volume guy--but he's just short. KC churns trough WR like crazy, partially due to injuries in recent years, but guys get their chances if they can be productive. He just struggled, and when he wasn't getting offensive snaps in SF where Jennings and Pearsall were in and out of the lineup all season, and there was no Brandon Aiyuk to contend with--well, that says something, too.
It's possible that this is the place where he makes the most of limited opportunities, but Moore will need to earn those snaps. I think he's pretty much KR/PR, and that his contract gives him a better shot at making the 53 than Hardman.
BuckyBadger
June 08, 2026 at 09:06 am
Moore was drafted to replace Hill which was an impossible task. Everyone just assumed that is what he would become because of the similar body types but Hill's speed was generational. He has had lots of chances to get on the field and he just can't seem to win the trust of his coaches and QBs. Hopefully he can find a place to contribute with the team but I have my doubts.
Oxymoron 3339
June 08, 2026 at 11:15 am
As someone who has lived in KC for the last 25 years and has always liked the Chiefs as my AFC team (Pack still my team).
Moore lost confidence and 15 lost confidence in him too. (drops and muffs).
Trade to SF was a new chance for Moore. If he did so well there why did they not sign him?
Hardman is older but has had a better career so far, but he is done.
dblbogey
June 08, 2026 at 02:06 pm
Aaron Rodgers thinks he could be the next Jake Kumerow.
Oxymoron 3339
June 08, 2026 at 02:22 pm
Ha
Snap the ball
June 08, 2026 at 10:08 pm
Rodgers did him a favor..