GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It's not like J'Mon Moore followed the Green Bay Packers all that closely as a kid in Missouri City, Texas or in college at Missouri. But ever since his pre-draft visit in early April, he knew full well the team's situation at receiver.

Just a month earlier, the Packers had parted ways with Aaron Rodgers' favorite target, Jordy Nelson, who later signed with the Oakland Raiders.

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"I mean, I thought about that as soon as I got drafted," said Moore, the Packers' fourth-round pick. "I plan on coming in here and working, getting in where I fit in and making the best of every opportunity that I get."

Speaking of fit, the Packers put Moore right between Davante Adams and Randall Cobb in the locker room. But no receiver learns the playbook or develops chemistry with Rodgers by osmosis.

It has proved especially difficult for rookie receivers to make a major impact. Even the ones who find greatness have not typically started that way. Take Nelson, who caught just 33 passes for 366 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie in 2008. Or Cobb (25 catches for 375 yards and one touchdown in 2011). Or Adams (38 catches for 466 yards and three touchdowns in 2014).

Packers rookie receiver J'Mon Moore has an opportunity to carve out a role in the offense with the subtraction of Jordy Nelson. Mike Roemer/AP Photo

Of course, the opportunities for Nelson, Cobb and Adams as rookies didn't line up like they have for Moore -- or the other two receivers the Packers picked: South Florida's Marquez Valdes-Scantling (fifth round) and Notre Dame's Equanimeous St. Brown (sixth round). Sans Nelson, there's no clear-cut No. 3 receiver behind Adams and Cobb. And with Cobb best suited to play in the slot, there's essentially a starting receiver position wide open.

At this point, that No. 3 slot belongs to Geronimo Allison with Trevor Davis and Michael Clark on the chase. No wonder new general manager Brian Gutekunst went heavy at receiver on Day 3 of the draft. But it didn't faze Moore.

"I mean, I'm thinking, you know, they're looking for young guys," Moore said. "They're looking for competition, and there's still some great guys available. So why not take them? Get the best out of us to fight for that position. So I wasn't worried about it."

Moore certainly looks the part; that much was evident at rookie camp last weekend. He snagged a deep ball on a corner route against coverage from first-round pick Jaire Alexander and showed the kind of sideline awareness and body control that made Nelson special.

But Rodgers had a special trust in Nelson, while Moore must start from scratch.

"He's the GOAT," Moore said during rookie camp. "So I'm ready to meet him, I'm ready to go out there and work with him, and hopefully be one of his favorite targets. So I'm going to make sure I'm on my P's and Q's and make sure I'm working and make sure I get that connection with him. Go out there and put up some yards for him."

There were a couple of red flags on the 6-foot-2⅝, 207-pound Moore, which could explain why he lasted until the fourth round despite consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Moore ran a slower-than-expected 40 yards at the combine -- 4.6 seconds, which ranked behind 31 of the 37 receivers who ran in Indianapolis -- and he dropped an inordinate percentage of passes in college.

"The way he's built -- tall, long arms, long legs -- we just thought he had a really good knack for making the first guy miss and getting upfield," Packers director of college scouting Jon-Eric Sullivan said. "He's pretty aggressive after the catch in terms of, a lot of times he's making his first move before he even secures the ball, which I think that maybe was an issue with some of the drops.

"By the same token, it takes a special athletic skill set to be able to do that time and time again to instinctively feel where a guy is on you, see and catch the ball, and all in the same motion make a guy miss. He's really good at that."