RTT#14 Denarius Moore: reviewing the class of 2007

by Joel Hollingsworth on May 9, 2008 8:01 AM EDT in Tennessee Volunteer Football

Feedback time. Does anybody care about these, or are they a waste of time? We could just jump to Eric Berry, say yeehaw, and be done.

For today anyway, here's RTT#14 Denarius Moore's initial profile. Despite what the stories said last year, his name is in fact either spelled "Denarius" or he simply tired of having to clarify otherwise. Anyway:

The notebook on Denarius just out of high school, bullet style:

Intrigue regarding the spelling of his last name.
Very, very good, but often overshadowed by teammate Lennon Creer.
As quiet and unflamboyant as Tennessee basketball fan favorite Chris Lofton, so expect zero bulletin board material.

So how'd he do? Not bad for a true freshman who, like any receiver not named Lucas Taylor, Austin Rogers, or Josh Briscoe, barely got into the rotation:

Games Played	Receiving			Kickoff Ret.
	No	Yds	TD	No	Yds	TD
14	14	212	0	4	87	0

The kickoff return experiment was short-lived, occurring only during the Cal and Southern Miss games. He did fine, averaging almost 22 yards per return, but apparently the coaches were looking for something more dynamic, which it took them awhile longer to find. Moore's best games came against Louisiana-Lafayette in November during which he had four catches for 36 yards and against Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl where he caught four passes for 86 yards. Again, pretty good considering he wasn't in the rotation very often.

Opponent	Score	Played?	Receiving			Kickoff Ret.			Tackles
			No	Yds	TD	No	Yds	TD	Ast	Solo	Asst Loss	Solo Loss	Loss Yds
California	31-45	Yes	1	9	0	1	31	0	0	0	0	0	0
Southern Miss.	39-19	Yes	1	2	0	3	56	0	0	0	0	0	0
Florida	20-59	Yes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Arkansas St.	48-27	Yes	1	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Georgia	35-14	Yes	1	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mississippi St.	33-21	Yes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Alabama	17-41	Yes	1	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Carolina	27-24	Yes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
La.-Lafayette	59-7	Yes	4	36	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Arkansas	34-13	Yes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vanderbilt	25-24	Yes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kentucky	52-50	Yes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
LSU	14-21	Yes	1	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wisconsin	21-17	Yes	4	86	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
			14	212	0	4	87	0	0	2	0	0	0

So there you have it. Denarius Moore. Clawson plans to enlarge the receiver rotation this year, so it will be interesting to see if Moore is one of the guys who will make the new cut.

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I do enjoy these a lot, I usually jump to the video highlights pretty quick tho. Eric Berry's will of course be different. We might need one of these for every game he played.

by VolBrian on May 9, 2008 8:22 AM EDT reply actions

KEEP EM COMING

It's great to look back on the season to see what some of these players have done, with watching all the ball games it's easy to forget what every one did. I like the reports you have done. I know it must be hard work, so thanks a lot. GO VOLS !!!!

OLD SMOKEY

by old smokey on May 9, 2008 12:29 PM EDT reply actions

True

Excellent stuff, as always, Joel! If you've got the time and enthusiasm to post it, we've certainly got the time and enthusiasm to read it!

by Aerobab on May 9, 2008 1:31 PM EDT reply actions

I find it hard to comment to

mostly because I didn't follow individual players nearly as well as you have them documented here.

But I don't remember any last name spelling issues with him...

by David Hooper on May 9, 2008 3:13 PM EDT reply actions

I think he was alright

He did pretty good for a kid that wasn't as involved as he should've been. Which reminds me, is there any way to display the number of plays or minutes each player had in each game, you know just to get a better idea of just how much they contributed? Probably not, but it's just something I thought of.

Anyhoo, I'm hoping he does make it into the rotation more next season. He's got the goods, he just needs opportunities. I think we should have at least an eight or nine reciever rotation this season so these kids can get as much pt as they can and maybe that'll motivate them to play as hard as they can every chance they get instead of knowing that they'll be in for a handful of plays and that's it. That'll hardly get a kid's juices flowing. But, I guess I trust The Claw to involve as much talent at one time as possible. At least I hope so.

BTW, I think these player profiles are perfect for off-season distraction and I'm glad you're doing them. I look forward to them. When are we going to talk about Ben Martin? I'm expecting big things from that guy. Anyways, keep it up Joel. Fine work as always.

I've got something for you young man. Oh! It's Thaa Claawww!! Oh, you're afraid of The Claw...

by XRayVol on May 9, 2008 3:20 PM EDT reply actions

Disagree on a point

The coaches will only play an 8-9 receiver rotation if there are 8-9 guys who put in the work and earn playing time. I'm not saying that Moore's work ethic wasn't up to par last season, because I don't know, but perhaps there were another 4 guys ahead of him that just outworked the others.

In general, bad stuff comes with an entitlement attitude.

[/soapbox]

by Aerobab on May 9, 2008 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions

kthen

We'll keep doing them as long as they don't induce eyerolls. (Not another one of those again!) There are only a handful left anyway. Ben Martin is next to last, but I can tell you already, I don't have any highlights for him. I'm not even sure how much he played, just that he did.

Go Vols!

by Joel Hollingsworth on May 9, 2008 5:24 PM EDT reply actions

Didn't D. Moore

score a touchdown in the orange and white game? I'm pretty sure that I remember him catching a pass from Crompton in the end zone. Does anybody remember?

Dustin

by volfan5216 on May 9, 2008 7:04 PM EDT reply actions