Denarius Moore comes off the board with plenty of room to spare: the Oakland Raiders have selected the former Vol with the 17th pick of the fifth round.
More than any other former Vol in recent memory, I think Denarius Moore was very, very undervalued in the draft. We mentioned this with Luke Stocker earlier today: with four different play-callers and four different quarterbacks on a team that's struggled, it's more difficult for individual offensive players to stand out. Moore still caught 40 passes for 540 yards and 7 TDs as a junior in 2009, including this freakish display of athleticism.
But it was only when Tyler Bray assumed command of the Vol offense in late October that Moore truly became a great wide receiver: in the last six games with Bray, Moore grabbed 29 passes for 724 yards and five touchdowns. He is the only player in Tennessee history to have two individual receiving games with more than 200 yards, and he got them five weeks apart (228 at South Carolina, 205 vs Kentucky - highlights of those two games here).
This kid can go get the football, and is also very good in space. He had a strong showing at the combine, and if he can find the field and the Raiders find a way to get him the ball, I think he's going to be a very productive NFL player. Congrats to Denarius.