Back when David Moore was an under-recruited receiver at Gainesville High School, his mom offered up some advice before he eventually went on to a successful college career at Division II East Central University.

"Listening to my mom, she would tell me, 'it's not about where you go, it's what you do when you get there,'" Moore said. "Then when I got (to ECU), I had a good connection with my coach, and it just felt like home. The rest is history."

It turns out Angie Moore might have been onto something. Because even if her son had to go to a Division II school in Oklahoma to show what he could do on the football field, Moore's talents still got him noticed by NFL teams, including the Seahawks, who selected him in the seventh round of the 2017 draft. Moore spent most of his rookie season on the practice squad before eventually earning a late-season call-up, and now with a year of experience under his belt, he looks not just like somebody who's likely to make the team, but like a potential impact player.

"He has shown us that he really has special catching ability," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "He's got really good ability at the point of attack… At the point of attack, he's really strong. He doesn't look as studly as he is, he's about 216, 218 (pounds), and he plays to that strength and it works for him. And he's really good when the ball's contested. So, that's the thing that we like the most about and we know he can make things happen, so we really want to keep working to fit him in. He came from a program that was not at the same level that we're at, so he's been in the catch-up mode for some time. But, he's way farther ahead than he was last year at this time, and we clearly have an appreciation for what he can do with the ball. He can catch the kicks too and punts, he's ready to do all that stuff when we want him too. He's really just become a bigger factor, and now we got to see how we can use him and see if we can get him in the right spots to utilize his talent."

What's most noteworthy about that praise being heaped upon Moore isn't so much that an NFL head coach said those things about a former D-II player and seventh-round pick, it's that Carroll said all of that two weeks ago before Moore was a standout in Seattle's second and third preseason games. In Seattle's second preseason game at Los Angeles, Moore made one of the plays of the preseason, somehow snatching the ball away from two defensive backs for a 52-yard gain. On the very next play, Russell Wilson went back to Moore, who drug his defender to the 1-yard line for a 19-yard catch. Last week in Minnesota, Moore caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from Alex McGough, and he also returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown, but that play came back due to a holding penalty.

Through three preseason games, Moore has a team-high 142 receiving yards and his five catches are the most among Seahawks receivers. He has also been a regular contributor on multiple special teams units before adding return duty last week. Moore said a year of NFL experience, even if most of it came in the form of practice, has made a world of a difference.

"When I was a rookie, it was all new, so having a year to learn it and learn from the best, I'm a lot more comfortable and I'm playing faster," he said. ".. It's just having another year under my belt. Last year was a learning process, just gaining knowledge from the veterans and coaches, and just getting some trust. I'm just coming out here playing fast, being more comfortable."

And for all the spectacular plays Moore has made in preseason games, what really helps his chances of having a bigger role in 2018 is the way he performs on a daily basis in practice.

"It's really nothing that we don't see every day in practice," offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said of Moore's big-play ability. "We see it all the time in practice. What he's doing now, which is cool, is the consistency. He's doing it day-in, day-out. It used to be, when I first got here, there'd be a practice he'd have a great one then he'd take a couple steps back. We're not seeing that; we're seeing him play consistent. He's so big, so powerful, and how competitive he can be to go up and fight. And that one catch (against the Chargers), I still don't know how he got it, it's pretty amazing."

Moore's playmaking ability has him looking like a player capable of a breakout season in 2018, something that seemed a long ways off when he was heading off to begin a Division-II college football career. Fortunately for Moore and the Seahawks, he followed the advice of his mom, and continues to do so today.

It's not about where you go, it's what you do when you get there.