Comparing DJ Moore and A.J. Brown on the field

Earlier today, I compared the draft-pick cost for the Bills and Patriots to acquire DJ Moore and A.J. Brown respectively via trades this offseason.

Now, I&#since-1999/">8217;ll be stacking Brown and Moore against each other as receivers on the field.

In the draft-pick piece, I labeled Moore as “a half-tier below” Brown for the entirety of the time they’ve spent together in the NFL (since 2019).

Of course, there’s no such thing as definitive, universally accepted quality tiers at any position in the NFL, so I wanted to provide you with everything imaginable to compare and contrast these now division rival receivers.

A few of these statistics were featured in the original article, but I’ve added one metric and put them all into a table for convenience:

(mtf = missed tackles forced, ctc = contested-catch, and fd = first down)

That feels like Moore is a “half-tier” behind Brown, doesn’t it?

Now, I am not the world’s biggest Jalen Hurts advocate, yet there’s no mistaking that Brown has had better quarterbacks throwing him the football to date in the NFL than Moore has — revitalized Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee and Hurts in Philadelphia.

Compare that to Moore, who, as a rookie caught most of his passes from 29-year-old Cam Newton. The next year, Kyle Allen started 12 games for Carolina. Then, 2020 was Year 1 with Joe Brady as the Panthers OC, and Teddy Bridgewater was Carolina’s starter. In 2021, 11 starts for Sam Darnold. In 2022, the Matt Rhule Panthers rolled out a triumvirate of passers — Baker Mayfield, P.J. Walker, and Darnold.

Of course, Moore then was traded to the Chicago Bears, and went for over 1,300 yards with Justin Fields throwing him the football before back-to-back seasons with Caleb Williams at the helm.

It’s impossible to quantify the impact quarterback play has had on these two receivers, yet is nonetheless worth mentioning.

Regarding Brown and Moore’s play against man coverage — which of course has been a major bugaboo for the Bills receivers lately:

Since 2022, Moore saw 479 targets in the regular season. Brown received 521.

When it comes to size, Moore and Brown are two strapping wideouts.

Brown is lsted at 6’1″ and 226 pounds. Moore is listed at 6’0″ and 213. And they’re very comparable athletes. There’s no way to know much the athleticism has changed for these two since they’ve been in the NFL, but here is the side-by-side of their pre-draft workout figures:

Reputation-wise, Brown is clearly ahead of Moore. He has three Second-Team All-Pro distinctions that he earned after the 2022, 2023, and 2024 seasons. Moore doesn’t have any. Brown has a Super Bowl ring, but of course, despite their exponentially increasing value to the NFL game, “WR Winz” are not really a thing. And it’s not specifically Moore’s fault he just made his playoff debut last season with the Bears.

He did have 11 receptions for 116 yards and two scores on 16 targets in those two postseason contests.

Moore and Brown are less than three months apart in age, with similar builds, athleticism, and play styles. They rock post-catch, win vs. man coverage, and are reliable reeling in the football in traffic.

Individually, they’ve had similar productivity to date, with Brown accumulating more volume on better teams with better quarterbacks.

And because they were injected into what should be a heated, tightly contested AFC East rivalry between Super Bowl contenders, from now on, it will be difficult to mention one receiver without quickly discussing the other.