If given the chance to decide, who'd you rather have: Randy Moss or Andre Johnson?
ESPN.com fantasy analysts Ken Daube and Christopher Harris debate who's better for 2010.
Daube calls Johnson the safer selection, but Moss the smarter pick because their projected difference is negligible (in Johnson's favor), while Moss has the better likelihood of blowing up statistically.
Obviously, Moss will be 33 years old this season, and historically not many receivers maintain their elite status once acquiring that many birthday candles. However, if you are going to be fair, you should see how players of his stature have performed at that age. The only receiver in history that it's fair to compare Moss against -- based on pure dominance and talent -- is Jerry Rice, and I'll remind you that Mr. Rice had one of the greatest receiving seasons ever during the season that he turned 33 (15 touchdowns, 1,848 receiving yards). I'm not saying that Randy Moss is better than Jerry Rice, that's for another discussion. I am saying that whenever Moss has applied himself, he's outperformed even Rice.
Harris considers Moss second to Johnson in his fantasy rankings because Moss "doesn't exactly have a history of manning up and playing great when his contract is at issue" and has concerns Wes Welker will be ready from the start of the season.
For me, the gap between Andre Johnson and Moss is far greater than the distance between Moss and whoever you care to make No. 3. AJ led all wideouts in receiving yards each of the past two seasons, the second man to accomplish that task in back-to-back seasons in NFL history (Rice is the other). He led the NFL in catches of 20-plus yards last season. He had the most targets in the league and the second-most red-zone targets. And he's 29. Of course, you don't earn 2010 fantasy points for last year's stats. Can AJ do it again? I've yet to hear a convincing reason why he won't.