Panthers first-round pick D.J. Moore caught the first pass of his NFL career in Sunday’s loss to the Falcons and he made it a memorable one.
Moore caught a pass over the middle from Cam Newton, broke a tackle and sprinted past the remaining Atlanta defenders for a 51-yard touchdown that brought the Panthers within a touchdown with just over two minutes left in the game. That play was one of 17 Moore played on Sunday and he played 17 snaps in the opening win over the Cowboys as well.
That number should be going up in the coming weeks. On Monday, head coach Ron Rivera said that the team “has to put more on DJ Moore’s plate” as they move forward from this week’s loss.
Devin Funchess, Torrey Smith and Jarius Wright have seen the most snaps at wide receiver through the first two weeks of the season. Moore was drafted with the intent to make the passing offense more potent, however, and it sounds like the man in charge wants to see that start to happen.