Scouting new Michigan commit, 2023 three-star WR Fredrick Moore

Michigan Wolverines football recruiting finally got a boost on Friday when 2023 Cardinal Ritter (MO) three-star wide receiver Fredrick Moore announced his commitment.

The 6-foot, 175-pounder is ranked right along the three/four-star border on the 247Sports composite. He is the No. 491 player nationally and 61st at his position.

Moore is the second commitment at wide receiver for Michigan in the 2023 class, joining in-state three-star Semaj Morgan. With Morgan being recruited exclusively as a slot, it will be interesting to see where Michigan projects Moore since he has assets that would allow him to play inside or outside after watching his film.

As a junior, Moore caught 41 passes for 1,010 yards and 12 touchdowns. That is an average of almost 25 yards a catch, hinting at big play ability.

At 6-foot even, Moore doesn’t have the desired height to play on the outside. However, he shows great body control and an ability to adjust to bad throws while in the presence of a defender. When running fades, Moore was good at beating press off the line and creating some separation down the field. But his quarterback wasn’t usually able to hit him in stride, which made Moore come back to the ball. He was able to adjust and get his body in position to come down with the catch.

In college, Moore will have to develop his route tree more than what it is now. Moore lined up all over the place for Cardinal Ritter, but often ran two routes: a fade when he was outside, or a quick screen. He’ll have to develop his route-running craft further under Ron Bellamy to add more versatility to his game.

When lined up in the slot, Moore showed an excellent ability to pick up yards after the catch. When running the aforementioned quick screens, Moore consistently ripped off long runs after catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage. His acceleration allows him to get to top speed quickly and get past the second level. Moore has good balance and strength that he uses to shake defenders if they are able to grab ahold of him.

The big sticking point with Moore that will affect him regardless of where he lines up is his top-end speed. The most current time available for Moore is an 11.55 in the 100-meter dash as a sophomore. That’s pretty slow for a Power 5 receiver recruit, as you’d like to see something sub-11 seconds.

Now, that time is at least a year old since Moore has wrapped up his junior year already. Moore is claiming he runs under 11 seconds now, but that has yet to be confirmed electronically. I will say he looks to play faster than that on film. He is able to break off long runs and pull away from defenders. If he truly is running under 11 seconds in the 100 meters, the concerns about his speed are much less serious.

Finally, Moore returns both kicks and punts for his team. He was able to return three kicks for touchdowns last season which is good, but his decision-making back there is a little scary. Most of the clips showed him running up and catching the ball off the bounce rather than fielding it cleanly. Coming off a season where Michigan’s returners were shaky in that department as well, you’d like to see someone who can secure the ball first and then try to make a play.

Overall, Moore should have time to develop for a season or two before contributing on the field. Working with Ben Herbert and the strength and conditioning staff will help him develop his speed and allow him to open up his game some more. I think Moore will work the best on the outside with his ability to track balls and body control, but he’ll have to polish up his route running first.