Former Loyola Blakefield star quarterback Jordan Moore will compete in Maryland once again when Duke takes on UCF in the Military Bowl on Dec. 28 … but he’s not a quarterback anymore.
Moore was recruited by Duke as a signal-caller as part of the Class of 2021 and saw some action at the position in 2021, throwing for 95 yards and one touchdown and running for 221 yards and three scores. But he transitioned to receiver during fall camp ahead of the 2022 season, and the switch has paid immediate dividends.
The 6-foot, 195-pound receiver caught 57 passes for 643 yards and five touchdowns this fall for the Blue Devils, who went 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the ACC under head coach Mike Elko. However, the move wasn’t as easy as his numbers make it seem.
“It definitely wasn’t as seamless as people think,” Moore said on Glenn Clark Radio Dec. 20. “… I would like to credit all the receivers in the room that helped me, specifically after practice every day, working on route-running, timing. I would credit all my coaches as well. And also the defensive backs because we stayed back every day after practice working press releases, working routes. I feel like toward the end of the season I really felt like I was coming on, becoming more comfortable in the position.”
Moore had a career day at Pitt on Nov. 19, catching 14 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown. He followed it up a week later against Wake Forest with eight catches for 76 yards and a score.
Now, the Sykesville, Md., native has a chance to build on those performances in front of family and friends at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.
“I was definitely excited when we got the call that we were going to go to the Military Bowl because it felt like I was going to go back home,” said Moore, who moved to Maryland from California in preschool. “Now that the location’s in Maryland, I have a lot of family and friends that are coming to support. It should be a good time.”
Moore has had plenty of good times in Maryland, considering he threw for 3,410 yards, ran for 1,120 yards and accounted for 47 touchdowns during his Dons career. He earned Baltimore Sun All-Metro honors in 2018 and 2019. The consensus three-star prospect was rated by 247Sports as the No. 20 recruit in the state of Maryland for the Class of 2021.
Moore played receiver as a freshman at Loyola, so the move to receiver at Duke in fall camp was actually a switch back. In fact, receiver was initially his preferred position with the Dons.
“When he first got to us, he was adamant he’d play receiver and he was just pretty persistent about that,” Loyola head coach Anthony Zehyoue told PressBox. “… I’m not surprised at all that he’s back at receiver. Because he loves playing, if that provided him the best opportunity to play and contribute, that’s ultimately what he’s about. He’s about as selfless as a kid that you’re going to ever meet.”
In June 2021, Moore received the Franklin D. Watkins Memorial Award, given to the nation’s top African-American high school scholar-athlete. Moore credits his parents for leading him on a path toward Duke by “instilling a mindset that I’m basically limitless.”
Moore has a magnetic personality that draws people in, according to Zehyoue.
“What I really appreciate the most about Jordan is he was a unifier. Everyone really loved being around him — his teachers, his coaches, his teammates especially. He unified people,” Zehyoue said. “At a time when our program wasn’t really the greatest, he was just a guy who always had a positive, can-do attitude and loved playing. That was the thing that always really stuck out to me. He had a very childlike approach in the sense that he really wanted to play.”
Moore committed to Duke in April 2020 following his junior season. He had about 20 to 22 offers to sort through, including from Maryland and Navy. Ultimately, he believed Duke was the best package for him, and now his goal is to play on Sundays and get into business world after football.
“I wanted to play football at the highest level and I feel like the ACC is great competition. But along with that, my parents instilled education into our family ever since I was young, so I wasn’t going to go to a school that didn’t have a top-tier education,” Moore said. “I feel like Duke was a blend of both. I made a 40-year decision rather than a four-year decision because Duke is a global brand that’s known everywhere. I feel like I made a decision for the betterment of my future.”
For more from Moore, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Duke Athletics