By Rod Gilmore
Special to ESPN.com
I think Santana Moss will have the bigger impact on Saturday's Washington-Miami game.
Moss is a nightmare. First, as a receiver, he will force the Huskies to make several adjustments. They will have to know where he is at all times in order to rotate coverage toward him. Washington will have to double-cover him, and pick spots to play man-to-man. Moss will also force Washington to use a lot of zone blitz packages.
The Huskies may blitz, but play zone coverages behind it, which will leave the Huskies vulnerable to short passes and the Jackson/Davenport running game.
In this situation, Moss will have an impact without even touching the ball.
Second, on special teams, the smartest thing for Washington to do is kick the ball away from Moss. But it isn't always that easy. Using that strategy could cause bad kicks which could give Miami great field position.
Finally, whenever Moss makes a big play, it seems to jack up the rest of the 'Canes. His breath-taking display of speed gives Miami an emotional lift and can deflate the opposition.
On the other hand, Tuiasosopo is an impact player without a supporting cast to take heat off of him. Miami will try to force Tuiasosopo to pitch the ball, and keep him in the pocket when he passes. That's a pretty standard game plan. Tuiasosopo could have a bigger impact if he were to get help from running back Paul Arnold, or from a yet-to-emerge wide receiver.
Don't get me wrong. The first time Marques scrambles to pick up a third-and-18, you'll be saying "Now that's impact." However, I think Miami's speed will be able to handle this.