Steeler Nation Needs To Relax Over Lance Moore Signing

Dec 29, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Lance Moore (16) stiff arms Tampa Bay Buccaneers free safety Keith Tandy (37) during the first half of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed former New Orleans Saint wideout Lance Moore.  For those feeling compelled to complain about this signing, get over it.  Here’s why….

For those who say Lance Moore was mediocre with one of the best QB’s in the league in Drew Brees:

Pretty sure, Moore will greatly benefit from Big Ben and a no huddle offense – if it ever happens. Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Yes, it’s true.  Lance Moore for the entirety of his career had Drew Brees slinging footballs for the Saints offense.  But don’t let the numbers fool you as far as catches and yards compared to someone like former Steeler Jerricho Cotchery.  You have to look at the rest of the Saints pass catchers and how head coach Sean Payton runs the offense.  Drew Brees loves throwing the football to his tight end, Jimmy Graham.  In fact Brees threw to Jimmy Graham a lot.  Quarterbacks have ‘favorites’ and ‘go to’ receivers on their offense, and Graham was one of Brees’.  Graham is also one of the best TE’s in the league and is one of the best in getting open in the flat.  The next three top targets for Brees are Pierre Thomas (a running back) and (finally) their #1 wide out Marques Colston, and (another RB) Darren Sproles.  Each of them had at least 70 catches on the year.  Lance Moore is in a distant 4th with only 37.  But hey, that’s bound to happen to someone who was marred with injuries last season.  Prior to that, Moore had career high numbers with over 1,000 yards receiving to his credit.  The important thing to take away here is that Sean Payton run this offense so that the TE’s and RB’s are a huge part of the passing game – especially on third downs.  Thomas and Sproles are very active in the passing game for the Saints, which is why they get so many balls thrown to them.  That has nothing to do with Moore’s skills and more to do with how the offense is structured.

Ben Roethlisberger is one of the best in the NFL as well, and Moore will benefit from Todd Haley’s tendency to dink and dunk.  Slant patterns and quick outs (and yes yes the bleepin’ bubble screen) are all within Moore’s capabilities to have significantly high YAC once he gets the ball.  Moore is just as fast as Cotchery and has just as good a set of hands, actually better.  And oh yea, Moore’s been in a no-huddle style offense too, which, if Tomlin and Haley are honest about their offense, we’ll be seeing a lot more of that next season.