Less than a minute into the 2022 season, a new weapon was unleashed.
Recently named starting quarterback Riley Leonard rolled to his right, fired a pass — and the spectacle of wide receiver Jordan Moore dawned on the Duke offense.
With a quick change of direction and impressive juking skills, Moore breezed past defenders before finally going down at the one-yard line, recording a 52-yard gain for his first-ever collegiate reception. This established a firm connection between the two sophomores that became a staple of a vastly improved offense. While the Blue Devil faithful had previously seen Moore in spurts as a quarterback, this first glimpse of him fitting at wide receiver was a telling sign of things to come.
“When [head coach Mike Elko] made the decision to name [Leonard] as a starter, I just tried to really find a way where I could impact the field to help my team win because I felt like with my abilities, just being out there on the field in any capacity would help the team win,” Moore told The Chronicle.
Moore excels with the ball in his hands and is an explosive play waiting to happen. Although the Sykesville, Md., native lost the quarterback battle to Leonard last offseason, Duke would have been remiss to keep his elite athleticism off the field. After just a couple days of practice at the wide receiver position, Moore was ready.
“He’s a competitor, and he’s the best athlete on our team,” Leonard said at July’s ACC Kickoff in Charlotte. “I don’t think he had run a route in maybe four years before last year. He comes out there after maybe half a week of practice and just balls out.”
Moore hauled in five more catches in the season opener and went on to finish the season with 656 receiving yards and five touchdowns, the latter tied for the team lead.
Moore isn’t the only receiver with quarterback experience. Last year’s leading wideout, redshirt senior Jalon Calhoun, was a standout quarterback at Southside High School in Greenville, S.C., leading his team to its best season in school history and becoming its first player to receive a Division I football offer.
However, in the recruiting process, he moved around positionally before landing on wide receiver — and the rest was history. Calhoun has consistently led this team, and his experience has been invaluable to the positional group.
“I just knew in my heart of hearts that I was an offensive player,” Calhoun said. “I always wanted to play receiver. I feel like I was just kind of naturally gifted.”
Calhoun has more than doubled his total yardage from a very successful freshman campaign in 2019 and has solidified himself as the Blue Devils’ dominant receiver. His outward humility is met by an internal confidence in his abilities and a work ethic matched by few.
“He’s the hardest working player on our field right now and arguably our best wide receiver a year ago,” said offensive coordinator Kevin Johns in an April 6 media availability. “So when you have your great players who work the hardest, that’s a great sign.”
Hidden superpower
How do these players use their former quarterback experience to their advantage at the receiving position? The answer lies in a greater understanding of the defense as a whole, making them deadly weapons.
“I feel like I know the offense and the defense way more than the average person would on the field,” Moore said. “And being a quarterback, you got to know literally everything about everything on the defense.”
“Just playing [quarterback] definitely gave me a better insight on what a quarterback needs me to do, where he wants me to be and our timing together and building chemistry,” Calhoun said.
A lot of attention was rightfully placed on Leonard for Duke’s triumphs last season. However, in order for a quarterback to succeed, his pass catchers must be able to create separation from the defense and build chemistry with their teammate under center. Fortunately, Calhoun and Moore’s experience in the position has helped build rapport with Leonard, strengthening an already tight connection between the players.
“It takes a lot of humility for those guys to come over there and ask me what they can do better after every single play,” Leonard said.
“They played the position of quarterback themselves, so they understand what a quarterback likes,” Leonard said at the team’s Aug. 19 media day. “A quarterback like me likes for their receivers to communicate with them what they see, so they’re great when it comes to coverages.”
This connection bore fruit and then some, as Duke jumped from the caboose in the league to fifth in total offense last year. When taking an in-depth look at this improvement, the passing game was the catalyst to this rapid rise. From 2021 to 2022, the Blue Devils went from last to seventh in the ACC in passing touchdowns and 11th to fifth in passing efficiency.
“I think everybody in the receiver room has a great relationship with all the quarterbacks,” Calhoun said. “When we’re on the sideline, we come back, try to talk about what I see, what [Leonard has] seen, and then we try to fix it on the fly. So it’s just keeping that communication line open between us so we can have a better season and put up numbers for this offense.”
New year, same receiving core
When players are not on the same page, miscommunication can lead to inefficiency and turnovers. However, communication seems to be a strength for Duke. With nine returning offensive starters and the entire receiving room coming back, the veterans hope to set examples while also roping in younger guys to promote depth and prevent a drop-off.
“I feel like our leadership is going to carry this offense to where it wants to go. Having a lot of older guys on the team has definitely helped,” Calhoun said. “We always talk to each other about staying on the young guys so they can follow our lead and when it’s our time to move on, they do the same thing.”
Although both Moore and Calhoun had productive years in 2022, neither are complacent about their success and both believe they have something more to prove. Moore is still in the early stages of his development as a wide receiver, but his progression this offseason has been substantial, he said.
“I’ve really worked on my footwork, trying to get out of my breaks quicker and my overall strength,” Moore said.
“A year ago, honestly, we felt like [Moore] was just sort of out there trying to run around everybody,” Johns said. “This year, he knows how to move people, how to attack and stem techniques. I expect big things from Jordan, and I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t have a much better year than what he had a year ago.”
Calhoun brings invaluable leadership into the room. For the fifth-year senior, leadership comes in the form of an example for younger players to follow.
“I mean, that guy just gives everything he has on every single play,” Johns said about Calhoun. “As a coach, I can walk into a meeting room in the film room and show a freshman wide receiver, ‘watch this guy who’s been playing ACC football in the last three, four years at a high level, watch him work.’”
“[Calhoun] really took me under his wing when I moved positions,” Moore said. “He’s a very unselfish player. He was willing to teach me everything I wanted to know. I was able to pick his brain a lot.”
Calhoun’s mentorship is even more important with the injury to fellow graduate wide receiver Eli Pancol, who is expected to miss significant time due to a lower body injury. However, Calhoun believes some of the younger wide receivers are ready to step up and take Pancol’s position, including redshirt sophomore Sahmir Hagans, who broke out when Pancol dealt with injury last season.
“I think we have a lot of young guys that are making a lot of plays like Sean Brown, Spencer Jones, Jontavis Robinson, Sahmir Hagans,” Calhoun said. “We definitely have depth in the room and it’s unfortunate but it’s the ‘next man up’ mentality.”
The wide receiver room is a tight-knit group — and one that reflects a wider uniqueness about Elko’s bunch this season.
“I think the receiver group is special for the same reason why our whole team is special,” Moore said. “I feel like we have a genuine love for each other. We spend all day together … I feel our culture is the reason why we are different.”
It’s no secret that Duke will have to face significantly tougher competition this year than it did last year. Many statisticians are skeptical about the Blue Devils’ ability to repeat their success, but the outside noise does not cross the walls of the locker room, Calhoun said.
“There’s a lot of people that doubt us but we don’t doubt ourselves,” Calhoun said. “We always stay in our greenhouse.”
Whether they are under center or lining up on the outside, Moore and Calhoun epitomize effective leadership and an eagerness to adapt.
Amidst newfound excitement for Blue Devil football, that may be more valuable than ever.
Editor's note: This piece is one of many in The Chronicle's 2023 Duke football preseason supplement. For the rest, click here.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Ranjan Jindal is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.