New Buffalo Bills wide receiver D.J. Moore isn’t joining his new team completely blind. As most in Bills Mafia are aware, Moore teamed up with head coach Joe Brady back in Carolina six years ago when Brady got his first NFL coordinator position with the Panthers.
Moore already had two solid seasons that established him as a playmaker for Carolina, but Brady helped him put together two of his strongest seasons in 2020 and 2021. From 2019 to 2021, Moore picked up at least 1,100 yards and scored four touchdowns each season.
His production dropped below 1,000 yards when Brady left Carolina in 2022 (though he did find the endzone more). Since then, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster career for Moore. His quietest season yet came last year, provoking the trade that brought him to Buffalo, where he’s hoping to replicate his prior success with Brady.
New Bills WR D.J. Moore expresses his excitement in teaming back up with HC Joe Brady
Moore talked about what his early impressions were about Brady when they linked up in Carolina in his first media session as a Bill on Thursday.
***“Just holding us, everybody in the offensive unit, to a high standard and going out there every day and just getting better 1%, whether it’s the little things or the much-needed things that we needed to focus on, he always harped on ‘em,***” Moore said. “He never took his foot off the gas.”
Of course, Brady’s early career was highlighted by the success he brought to any passing game he touched, starting in 2019 at LSU. Part of what makes his offenses so successful is the famed “Joe Brady routes”, the routes run by secondary receivers in the pattern to ensure the primary target comes open. Moore praised the tactic, and expressed his excitement in getting back into Brady’s offense.
“The different ways and different concepts that gets us to those positions. You might have crossers, you might have a straight-up go-route– I don’t know what he has put in right now, so I really couldn’t tell you,” he said. “But I know back then, it was a lot of different things that you wasn’t sure who was going to be doing [what] at the time.”
Moore added that Brady told him to get ready to run after the trade went through, just as he did when they first paired up in Carolina.
“It’s a lot of excitement on all sides.”
Having tasted the postseason for the first time last year in Chicago, Moore mentioned that his expression changed quickly when he learned he was heading to Buffalo to play for Brady alongside Josh Allen.
Certainly, Bills Mafia is hoping that Moore gets back to form quickly for the Bills offense. The receiver room is already healthier with him in it, though there is still room for improvement.
Nonetheless, the benefit of having a reliable No. 1 target in the offense should open up opportunities for everyone. But having that familiarity between Moore and Brady should prove even more fruitful for the offense in 2026. Now that Moore is officially in the building, it’s a countdown to next season to see how it all plays out.