Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Randy Moss: The Case For And Against

How do I feel about the Packers being interested in Randy Moss?

I'm torn. I really don't know what I feel. So in order to help organize my thoughts and come up with a decent opinion, I've broken it down into Pros and Cons. I'll start with the Cons first:

CON: The mooning incident.

This was inexcusable. It's what most people think of immediately when they think of Randy Moss. He says it was because the fans do it to opposing teams. Whatever. It was a boneheaded thing to do.

It's okay for a fan to moon an opposing player. They're not getting paid millions of dollars to be the representatives of a team. When Randy Moss "mooned" the Lambeau faithful, he did it not just as Randy Moss, but a representative of the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL.

CON: "I play when I want to play."

Now, my theory about this statement is that he was trying to appear tough and rebellious, so he shot his mouth off. Fair enough. Still a bad move, all the more so because it's true. Almost every player takes a down off here and there. When Moss does it, though, or more importantly, publicizes it, it just looks even worse.

CON: He's just not the Randy Moss of old.

Remember the guy who would stretch defenses and scare the crap out of people? The guy who was a home-run threat every time he touched the ball? Yeah, Randy Moss is 30 now. He just can't do that anymore. He's not a Jerry Rice workout freak, just a really talented reciever who lost a step or two.

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Those are some pretty daunting Cons. Is it worth bringing in a guy who's not the guy he once was, who could possibly destroy your team chemistry? Well, let's take a look at some pros.

PRO: Randy Moss has grown up.

He's 30 now. When was the last incident you heard of? During his last few years with the Raiders, even through coaches like Norv Turner and Art Shell, you heard nary a peep from him. He would complain about the bad coaching, and he was correct. He kept his nose relatively clean, though, which for Randy is pretty good.

PRO: Moss works better when he has strong teammates.

Randy's best and most stable years were with Cris Carter by his side. His last few years in Minnesota, though, he had Mike Tice as his coach, who is certainly not the strongest leader of men. He had Daunte "Boat Party" Culpepper a rogues' gallery of wide receivers alongside him, and no running backs to speak of to keep the defenses honest.

If Moss goes to Green Bay, he's going to have Donald Driver on the other side. He's going to have Brett Favre as his quarterback, at least for another year or so. Mike McCarthy is feeling his oats as a head coach. Ted Thompson won't put up with crap. He'll have a support system around him.

PRO: While Moss isn't as explosive anymore, he didn't really have much around him.

For Moss' last few years in Minnesota, there wasn't a real running back. He had Culpepper throwing to him, and he's been exposed as a fraud. He had random wideouts along from him, but no one who could take the defense away from him.

In Oakland, he had Kerry Collins and Aaron Brooks dishing him the ball, as well as enough other quarterbacks to start their own Arena League. I mean, Andrew Walter? Marques Tuiasosopo? Plus, he once again didn't have anyone across from him. Jerry Porter never played, and Ronald Curry just can't get it done.

In Green Bay, he'll have competent quarterbacks getting him the ball. He has not just one starting-quality receiver across from him in Donald Driver, but don't forget about Greg Jennings either. Whomever the Packers get as their running back will do okay because the line is starting to gell. He also has a red-zone threat in Bubba Franks alongside him.

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I can make more of a case FOR Randy Moss than AGAINST Randy Moss. I mean, this could go spectacularly bad or incredibly good. There really isn't an in-between. However, it seems more likely to end up good than bad in my book.

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