Jerry Rice may have the career-numbers on his side when it comes to the debate of who the greatest wide receiver of all-time is (hell, Rice can make a compelling case for greatest player of all-time) but when Randy Moss was on his game, there was no wide receiver who impacted the game as much as Moss.
Indeed, wherever Moss has gone, his quarterback has thrived. The most well-known example of this is Moss’ first year with the Patriots, where Moss, Tom Brady and Wes Welker made the NFL their own personal playground. Moss broke the single-season record for receiving touchdowns, while Brady enjoyed the best year of his storied career. However, Brady isn’t the only quarterback who has enjoyed his best years with Moss as a wideout. The list of quarterbacks who had their best career seasons with Moss as an option range from the obvious (Daunte Culpepper) to journeymen like Jeff George, Randall Cunningham and even Matt Cassel.
Moss starts to look even better in the aggregate. Benjamin Morris and Neil Paine of fivethirtyeight.com examined the quarterbacks who Moss has played with (a minimum of eight games) and how they performed with and without Moss. The results are eye-opening:
The eight QBs with whom Moss has played at least eight games have averaged 48 more yards per game, seen their completion and touchdown percentages rise by an average of 3.7 percentage points and 1.6 percentage points, respectively, ultimately averaging nearly a full yard per pass attempt more in the games with him than without him. One yard per attempt may not sound like much, but that’s about the difference between Peyton Manning (7.7 YPA) and Neil O’Donnell (6.7 YPA).
These graphs are ridiculous as well. The first shows the difference in TD% and yards per attempt with a particular receiver on the field. The second graph compares how a quarterback performed on average with Moss versus what his average stats were like in games without Moss.
Now, an explanation for Moss’ influence compared to other receivers could be explained by a multitude of factors. Moss’ role in offenses was almost exclusively as a deep threat, given his unique combination of speed, hands and reach so that could help explain why his YPA is so much higher than his peers. Also, Moss got to play in the era of passer-friendly football which only magnified his impact on offenses. However, even within the context of the modern era, wherever Randy Moss went, his quarterback improved measurably (minus the Raiders because… Raiders).
Jerry Rice may hold the records for most receiving yards of all-time and career receiving touchdowns but when he was “on top of his game” and not “wasting away in Oakland” there may have been no wide receiver who was as influential as Randy Moss.
Also, he was responsible for Joe Buck’s best/worst moment as a broadcaster, so Randy Moss will always be the best.
