Unquestioned Leader Emerging in Texas WR Room

The Texas Longhorns receiving room continues to show off its versatility both on and off the field.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. (0) reacts after narrowing missing a touch down as the Texas Longhorns take on Mississippi State at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. / Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AUSTIN -- Coming off the best game of his young career in the SEC opener against Mississippi State, Texas Longhorns receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. is being showered with big-time praise from head coach Steve Sarkisian that has more to do with his impact off the field.

When meeting with the media Monday ahead of the team's bye week, Sarkisian said that "there's no question" that Moore Jr. is emerging as the leader of the wide receiver room. Fans might expect veteran transfers like Matthew Golden or Isaiah Bond to receive that kind of praise due to their experience combined with performance on the field, but it's Moore's approach, work ethic and increased production that has allowed to earn the crown of "captain."

"There's no question. I would say he's the leader of the receiver room," Sarkisian said of Moore Jr. "As Coach [Chris] Jackson calls him, the captain of the receiver room. And every room's got that guy. But again, DeAndre, to his credit, all he did was try to emulate Jordan Whittington, and literally was in that guy's back pocket everywhere he went. Studied his mannerisms, studied how well he learned the offense, what he did from a recovery standpoint to get his body back, week in and week out, the versatility, from position, flexibility, the special teams work, he does all that, and it's paid off."

Moore Jr. has steadily come into his own this season. After having what would've been his first-career touchdown called back against Michigan due to a penalty, he finally got into the end zone in the win over UTSA when he finished with three catches for 17 yards and the score.

He suffered a hip pointer in the 51-3 win over ULM the following week, which Sarkisian said nearly prevented him from playing against Mississippi State. This makes it even more impressive that he finished with four catches for a team-leading 103 yards and two touchdowns. He nearly had three scores but was barely ruled out at the one-yard line 20-yard catch on Texas' first drive.

"He really didn't practice much this week," Sarkisian said after the game. " ... I really thought to myself he's not gonna be able to go. but we'll see. And he came back to Friday's walkthrough, and looked pretty good. We ran him pretty good, and it felt pretty good. And then I just watched him long and hard in pregame, I thought, 'Man, he's running great.'"

After not recording a catch last year, Moore Jr. has tallied eight catches for 126 yards and three touchdowns so far this season.

He'll have the bye week to get his hip healed before the Longhorns take on the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Saturday, Oct. 12.