Interesting Randy Moss/Jerry Rice ComparisonAndrew Perloff
raises the heretical notion that Randy Moss might be the greatest wide receiver of all time. The notion seems silly with Jerry Rice's incredible career just about complete annexing the receivers section of the NFL record book, but he does make this good point:
When you look at the numbers, however, Moss really hasn't fallen at all. When healthy (he battled a hamstring injury last season), Moss has maintained a statistical level of excellence that is rivaled only by Rice. Moss joins the Raiders for his eighth NFL season with 9,142 receiving yards and 90 TDs, nearly identical to Rice's 9,072 receiving yards and 93 TDs at that point in his career.Now, of course, any rational assessment of the two would have to include their respective temperaments, off-field behavior, and example as stars to the rest of their teams. And it's pretty obvious that Rice comes out far ahead of Moss on that scale. Rice was pretty much the kind of superstar that every sports franchise dreams of; Moss is more of a nightmare.
But anybody whose numbers compare to Rice's after seven years in the league is clearly one heck of a player. I don't think Moss has a chance of catching Rice long-term. Rice's eighth to eleventh years he averaged 1500 yards per season and 13 TDs, numbers that Moss will be hard-pressed to match.