DURHAM – Around this time a year ago is when it was becoming clear Riley Leonard would be Duke’s starting quarterback.

And the corresponding revelation was that Jordan Moore would be in the rotation at receiver.

Now that he’s a year into his career as a receiver, Moore feels renewed in this transition — if it even still qualifies as one.

“I feel like a whole new player,” Moore said earlier this month. “I worked hard in the summer to get my body right, my speed, my strength, everything like that.”

The spring was a time for Moore to dive into the intricacies and nuances of playing receiver. That’s when he went to work on becoming a better route runner.

And it meant the summer was a time that Moore worked on his body. Going through summer workouts as a quarterback compared to other positions is a different experience.

“Definitely was an emphasis on upper body strength,” the 6-foot, 195-pounder said. “I wasn’t very strong in my upper body last year. Now that’s more of an emphasis, like barbell benching, stuff like that. It’s been good to see my body transform.”

It’s fair to say Moore was an athlete thrust into a new position last season. Now that he’s spent an entire offseason at the position, he’s more of a receiver who came to Duke at a different position.

“I think he’s light years ahead of where he was a year ago,” offensive coordinator Kevin Johns said. “If you remember, last season before our first game, he had been there about 10 days. … He was constantly learning as the season was going on.”

Johns continued and said he thought things piled up on Moore last season.

The Sykesville, Md., native had 60 catches for 656 yards and five touchdowns; he had at least five catches in three of Duke’s first four games, and then only had more than three catches in two of Duke’s last nine games (though they were big games, with 14 catches for 199 yards against Pittsburgh and eight for 76 against Wake Forest).

Moore figures to be one of Duke’s top three receivers, of which there’s a clear demarcation at this point. Jalon Calhoun, Sahmir Hagans and Moore give Leonard three reliable targets; Moore (69%) and Calhoun (68.9%) were nearly identical in completion percentage when targeted last season, with Hagans (63.3%) not far behind (all per Pro Football Focus).

Coach Mike Elko joked with Moore before fall camp started about needing to pull some film cut-ups and a reminder of how far he’s come developmentally in the past year.

“I’m watching practice and Jordan Moore’s still running around at quarterback,” Elko said after the first practice. “To see him out there running routes tonight, that’s completely different.”

You’ve got to look closely at Duke’s offense to find differences in personnel from a year ago; in looking at Moore and thinking of where he used to be, you can find such contrast.