Breakout star candidate for the Browns in Week 8 vs Seattle
Don't look now, but the Cleveland Browns are 4-2 and have won two games in a row, by hook or by crook. The term "ugly win" often comes up in sports, but the key word is "win" and that is something this team has done in consecutive weeks for the first time this season.
The Browns will yet again be without Deshaun Watson, as he nurses a shoulder injury that was aggravated last week against the Colts after just five pass attempts.
Cleveland will turn yet again to P.J. Walker, who didn't look great against the 49ers and Colts but made some big-time plays when it mattered most. In back-to-back weeks, Walker led a game-winning drive that has this team sitting in a way better position than it has any business being in, all things considered.
One guy that Walker will look to target on Sunday in Seattle, and the breakout candidate for the Browns this week is wide receiver Elijah Moore.
General manager Andrew Berry was looking to bolster the wide receiver room in the offseason and he did just that when he swapped third-round picks with the Jets to acquire Moore.
Entering his third professional season, Moore has seen his fair share of ups and downs. He scored five touchdowns in his rookie season, but due to coaching and a quarterback carousel that only the Browns could rival, Moore got lost in the shuffle.
Moore possesses the speed and athleticism that perfectly suits how Watson, er, Walker (and possibly Jacoby Brissett?) plays.
Unfortunately, Moore hasn't had that breakout performance yet in his first six games with the Browns, but that could change this Sunday in one of the toughest places to play.
On the season, Moore has caught 25 passes on 43 targets for 226 yards but has been held out of the end zone. Of his 25 receptions, nine have gone for first downs. Moore has also rushed the ball eight times for 11 yards, including a play that resulted in a 20-yard loss.
Enough of the jet sweep with Moore. It clearly isn't working, so let him go run a multitude of routes and hope Walker can feed him the ball in open space. Speaking of open space, head coach Kevin Stefanski is good at getting his guys in positions to make plays.
Walker often looks for Moore first in his progressions, which shows that he is trying to establish and develop the chemistry that could light a spark under this offense.
Moore has been targeted at least seven times in every game with the exception being Week 4 against the Ravens when he only saw four targets. Expect to see seven or more targets this week as Walker tries to lead this team to a third-straight victory.
The potential is there for the 23-year old Moore, and Sunday seems like the ideal time for him to breakout for this Browns' squad trying to get to 1-0 for the week and 5-2 overall.