New San Francisco 49ers receiver Skyy Moore is ready to write the next chapter of his career following last week’s trade from Kansas City.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. It’s a fresh start,” Moore said following Saturday’s preseason finale, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “New city, new team. I feel like I get to learn again and put the fun back in the game. Not that I lost it, but just another adventure, I’d say. And the guys, what I’ve seen so far, they accepted me. And all the veteran guys and all the coaches helped me make that transition as smooth as possible.”
A second-round pick in 2022, Moore never lived up to his pre-draft billing in Kansas City. In three seasons, he generated a total of 494 receiving yards and one touchdown. In 2024, he played in just six games before being shut down for the season with an injury and didn’t have a catch on three targets.
The writing was on the wall for Moore in K.C. Last week’s swap of late-round picks that moved him to the Niners indicated he was going to get cut.
Now in San Francisco, Moore has a shot to crack a banged-up receiver corps and potentially contribute in the return game.
“Yeah, I feel like I definitely needed a fresh start,” Moore said. “I found myself in my head a lot over in Kansas City. And, you know, that’s never good. I feel like today, it was just like let it loose and just go out and play because I don’t know anything anyway. So it’s like, I got to just play ball.”
Saturday’s outing against the Los Angeles Chargers wasn’t the prettiest, with Moore dropping his first two targets. He caught three of six targets for 19 yards on 16 routes run. Most of his issues were excused by having just one practice in the 49ers offense. Moore admitted after the game that he was “confused out there a little bit.” Kyle Shanahan’s offense takes more than one practice to master.
With Brandon Aiyuk set to miss the start of the season, the Niners have questions at wideout. While Jauan Jennings is expected to be ready for Week 1, both he and Ricky Pearsall have missed time. Moore steps into that void with a shot at earning a role.
The ability to play a gadget role in Shanahan’s offense as well as return punts and kicks gives him value in San Francisco. On Saturday, Moore fielded three punts for 16 yards and earned a 26-yard kick return.
