Randy is No Moss

The New England Patriots have made plenty of confusing, controversial, and head-scratching moves over the years, but this one takes the cake. The Patriots are 3-1, coming off a 41-14 blowout of Miami on the road, and heading into a much needed bye-week. So why trade Randy Moss for as little as a third rounder in 2011? As a Patriots fan, it is easy to be bias against the trade and look past any possible justifications to why they would trade the NFL's 5^th all-time leading receiver. But before jumping ship on what is still one of the best teams in football, lets look at the pluses and minuses of the deal....

• The Negatives

  • The first point that Patriots fans will point to is the lack of depth after Moss. The trade leaves them with 5 true receivers in Wes Welker, Brandon Tate, Julian Edelman, Matt Slater, and Taylor Price. Welker is still good for 6-10 catches per game, even without defenses keyed in on Moss. Tate has shown he can return kicks and has play-making ability on offense, but only has 11 career receptions, all of which coming this season. Edelman is a poor-man's Welker and hasn't done anything this year, and probably won't be much of a factor. Slater doesn't have a single catch in his career and is nothing but a special teams fill-in. Price is a rookie who has yet to be activated for a game, but should see his first action when the Pats return to the field against Baltimore in two weeks. All-in-all, Welker is the only WR on the Patriots with over 41 career receptions, and is also the only WR with more than 3 seasons in the NFL.

  • Moss leaves the Pats with a void at the true split-end spot. Brandon Tate is listed generously at 6-1, 195 pounds. His size is a far cry from Moss, and he certainly doesn't have the hands or jumping ability that Moss has to outreach and out-muscle smaller DB's. The lack of a deep threat will allow defenses to stack 7 or 8 men in the box and stuff the already poor run game. Moss was able to draw two and three man coverage at times, opening up the field for Brady's “midget-army”.

  • Moss's pure scoring ability will be greatly missed. His 50 touchdowns in 52 games with the Patriots easily led the team in scoring, and his 15.1 yards per reception led the team over the last 4 years. True, Welker led the team in receptions each of Moss's seasons in New England, but his 18 touchdowns in that same time period is a far cry from what Moss produced in terms of scoring. The combination of Edelman/Tate/Price/Slater have one career touchdown, which makes the trade of Moss all the more unbearable.

  • When the Pats traded for Moss prior to the 2007 season, they gave up a 4^th rounder to Oakland. This time, Moss was dealt for a 3^rd rounder. The Vikings are desperate for WR help in what SHOULD BE Favre's last year, as Sidney Rice will miss half the season with injuries, and Percy Harvin has been hampered by migraines and a hip injury. Moss reportedly asked to be dealt after Week 1, and with teams like Chicago, Minnesota, Washington, St. Louis, Carolina, and San Francisco all looking for WR help, how could the Patriots not get a better offer for one of the NFL's best? Understandably they didn't want to trade Moss within the AFC, but even pitting Chicago and the Vikings against one another should have helped them at least get a second round pick.

• The Positives

  • Rookie tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski have broken the Patriots trend of lack-luster tight ends. Hernandez has been used as a receiver more than a tight end, and his 6-1, 245 pound frame makes for an excellent target. His 18 receptions is second to only Welker, and his 240 yards receiving leads the team. More impressive is his 18 receptions in 20 targets, a 90% catch rate. Moss was targeted by Brady 22 times and caught 9 passes, equating to only a 41% rate. Brady often seemed to keyed in on Moss, often forcing the ball to him and wasting his other options. Brady completed 61 passes to Gronkowski/Welker/Hernandez/Tate over the first 4 games, and Belichek obviously feels there are enough weapons to justify the loss of Moss.

  • The unbalanced offensive attack has proven less and less successful since the 2007 season. The Patriots simply cannot get away with airing the ball out 50 times a game, and need to revert back to a balanced offense. Hosting two or three tight ends on the field, all of whom with excellent pass-catching ability, allows for better run blocking as well as the element of surprise. The Pats will now feature more “heavy” offensive packages, lining up Alge Crumpler as a third tackle, Gronk at TE, and using Hernandez as a wing or split wide. Offensive packages like this require only one WR on the field, which will be Welker. Overall, the short passing game isn't affected, as Moss was never one to catch 5-8 yard passes and never really seemed interested in going over the middle.

  • Without Moss, it will make game planning a lot harder on the opposition. Brady often finds a specific player to target in any given game, whether it is Hernandez, Welker, Moss, or his backs. Teams will have a harder time preparing for what the Patriots have to throw at them, both in terms of formations and primary targets. As we've seen through the first four games on special teams, Tate has excellent speed and makes for a decent down-field threat. Brady should be able to find him deep a few times this season, as the short passing and running games will pull in the safeties and open up the deeper part of the field.

  • Regardless of the rebuilding rumors, the Patriots ARE NOT looking ahead to next season. They have a plethora of young talent on both sides of the ball, and the defense took a huge step forward against Miami. They have a lot of play-makers with potential on offense, and now have two picks in each of rounds one through four in the 2011 draft. The draft is loaded with offensive talent, potentially hosting players such as Mark Ingram, Ryan Williams, Noel Devine, Daniel Thomas, and Demarco Murray at tailback. Recievers Julio Jones, AJ Green, Leonard Hankerson, and Jonathan Baldwin head up the WR class, all of whom possess Moss-like size and speed. Defensively, standout defensive backs Prince Amukamara, Aaron Williams, Patrick Peterson, Brandon Harris, Deunta Williams, and DeAndre McDaniel should all be there for the taking. Defensive end Robert Quinn could be the second coming of Julius Peppers, and Cameron Heyward, Jack Crawford, Dont'a Hightower and Quan Sturdivant all fit the Patriots flex 3-4 defensive scheme. With the potential of 3 picks in the first 33, and 8 in the first four rounds, the 2011 draft is a great opportunity to stack the team with young talent.

  • Finally, based purely on speculation, the Patriots should be shopping for a veteran WR. They are not known to be active during the lack-luster NFL trade deadline, but a few names have been flying around this year. Devin Thomas of the Redskins, Lee Evans of the Bills, and Vincent Jackson of the Chargers could all change uniforms, but realistically it is hard to see the Patriots interested in any big names. They are more likely to try and bring back Sam Aiken or bring Darnell Jenkins up from the practice squad. Knowing that they would not shell out an extension to Moss after the season shows their refusal to spend money on aging players, and are more likely to allocate those dollars to extending current players or attempting to lure Logan Mankins back to the team.

Truthfully, it is impossible to forecast the repercussions of this trade until we see how the team will respond without one of their offensive leaders, but the trade proves that Moss finally forced the Pats hand with his descriptiveness. Rumors of confrontations with Belichek as well as Moss's outspokenness about desire for an extension ultimately spelled the end to his Patriots tenure. It remains to be seen if the passing game will suffer without Moss, but only time will tell just how beneficial or devastating trading him is. But for know, AFC defensive backs can breathe sighs of relief until the Patriots establish that Brady will not miss a beat without his favorite down-field target of the past three years.

(For those of you who know very little Spanish, the title is a pun equating Moss to más)