Randy Moss joins the Titans
National Football League
Draft King Analysis
November 5, 2010
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
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On Wednesday the texts started flowing in while I headed over to my parents' house in Nashville. The news: the Tennessee Titans had claimed Randy Moss off of waivers. No other team put in a claim for him.
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Randy Moss is now a member of the Titans. (Icon SMI)
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The overwhelming sentiment in the greater Nashville area (where I live) from Titans fans I know has been positive for the Titans picking up Randy Moss off of waivers. Personally the move makes me happy as someone who roots for the Titans. I've seen defenses put eight guys in the box to contain Chris Johnson, which isn't a bad move, but with Moss on the field it will make opponents think twice about that approach. Kenny Britt is out for an estimated four weeks with a hamstring injury, but the concept of Vince Young at QB, Chris Johnson at RB, Randy Moss and Kenny Britt at wideout, and Nate Washington in the slot is appealing to me as someone who will be braving the cold to see some of the Titans home games coming up in December.
12 years ago, the Tennessee Oilers (as the team was then known) passed on Randy Moss to draft another wide receiver, Utah's Kevin Dyson. Hindsight is 20/20 obviously, but 12 years later the Titans didn't pass on him again. The move for the Titans appears to me to be strong from a risk/reward standpoint. Moss may not stay long in Nashville; his contract expires at the end of the season and he cannot be franchised as per the terms of the deal that the Titans inherited via the waiver wire.
But, short-lived as it might be, the move gives the Titans a better chance to win the Super Bowl, and there's something to be said for that. Plus, it kept the Patriots from being able to sign Moss as a free agent, and it's possible that if both teams make the playoffs that Tennessee will face off with New England. Also, the Titans could gain a compensatory draft pick if Moss signs elsewhere after 2010. In a year with no salary cap, I think the move was a strong one by the Titans.
I redid my 2011 NFL Mock Draft yesterday, something I've had in the works for some time now. It takes longer than you might think to craft 32 paragraphs defending the decision of each player with each team. So it's nice to have it online now. I'm sure it will change many times between now and April, but for now that's how I see it playing out.
Something that jumped out to me is that, as of this version of the 2011 NFL Mock Draft, the top eight players all have eligibility for 2011. Some guys have already faced suspensions from the NCAA (A.J. Green, Marcell Dareus) and would seem inclined to jump to the pro level as quickly as possible. Robert Quinn has seen his North Carolina team ravaged by suspensions levied against high-end teammates for alleged connections to an NFL agent, which would make me suspect that he'd want to jump to the pros as well.
Quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Ryan Mallett will both be interesting to watch, particularly with the potential NFL lockout looming for 2011. Luck appears to have pulled away as the top quarterback prospect for the 2011 NFL Draft, though a great deal can change between now and April. But, particularly for Mallett, the prospect of a lockout could lead him (and others) who would have otherwise gone pro to instead return to college for 2011.
