Several of your better wide receivers have switched teams this off season. You have a first round fantasy pick going to Oakland. You have two of them swapping teams in a trade. You also have the top fantasy receiver in 2004 (and no it wasn’t Terrell Owens) going to the Windy City. There is a lot of intrigue among this year’s wide receiver crop that moved onto new teams…

Randy Moss
Old Team: MIN New Team: OAK
This could be filed under the Terrell Owens category. Randy Moss is debatably the most talented wide receiver in the league. He is not necessarily the hardest worker or the most polished route runner, but there is nobody in the league with his size, speed, and hands combination. Minnesota had enough of Moss’s attitude on and off the field so they shipped him to Oakland for Linebacker Napoleon Harris, a First and Seventh rounder in April’s draft. This seems like a match made in heaven. The old Raider’s attitude and his ability to give defensive coordinators fits with his ability to go deep. The Raiders have chucked the West Coast offense of their 2003 Super Bowl year and seem to be moving towards a more run-oriented offense and strike deep attack. In his seven years in the NFL, Moss has averaged 1306 receiving yards for 15.9 yards a catch and 12.9 touchdowns. This includes last year’s injury plagued season of 49 catches for 767 yards. This will be a nice bounce back season for Moss as he lives up to his 1st-round billing in fantasy drafts.

Derrick Mason
Old Team: TEN New Team: BAL
Talk about a signing that was a long time coming. Derrick Mason goes from heart of country music in Tennessee to up north in Baltimore. The Ravens desperately needed a proven receiving threat for Kyle Boller. The old Jamal Lewis and a cloud of dust will only work for so long for Brian Billick. This is a team that has a tight end as their top receiver in 2 of the last 5 years. This is also a team whose leading receiver in 2004 was Travis Taylor (34 balls for miserable 421 yards). Let me say that again, 34 balls for 421 yards! Ouch, that just pains me to say. Mason brings the Ravens a legitimate number one receiver for the first time since they won the Super Bowl in 2000. He runs great routes and knows how to find a hole in a defense. He is a little undersized standing at 5’10” and 190 pounds, but has nice quickness and elusiveness. Add into the equation that Pro Bowl tight end Todd Heap should be healthy and first round pick Mark Clayton from Oklahoma, Kyle Boller could surprise more than a few people in 2005.

Muhsin Muhammad
Old Team: Car New Team: CHI
This move surprised me a bit. It is not that Chicago did not need a wide receiver because god knows they did. If you total up the Chicago Bear’s top three wide receivers from 2004, their yards and touchdowns would not exceed that of what Muhammad (93 catches for 1405 yards and 16 touchdowns) did in 2004. They have a young quarterback and needed some sort of stability and experience at the wide receiver position. That being said I do not think Muhammad is the answer. He had a great year in 2004. That is hard to deny but has had problems putting together successive solid seasons. Before 2004, he averaged 55 catches for 748 yards and 2.3 touchdowns from the 2001-2003 seasons. Add into that he just turned 32. Muhammad would be great for a team that was on the edge of being a competitive playoff team, but the Bears are a young team. By the time they become a playoff team Muhammad will be in his mid-thirties. The Bears should have gone with Mike Williams in the April draft and saved their money in free agency for another position (they had several needs). They already had a productive running back in Thomas Jones (1375 total yards in only 13 games). Instead they drafted another running back (Cedric Benson of Texas) and signed a 32 year-old wide receiver to a six year deal that just had a career year. I just hope for the Bears sake I am wrong.

Laveranues Coles
Old Team: WAS New Team: NYJ
Coles was once a teammate of Santana Moss, but this past off season he was dealt from the Washington Redskins for him. Washington wanted more speed from their wideouts while the Jets wanted a more reliable target. Coles knows the system and quarterback well since he had caught 89 balls for 1264 yards from Chad Pennington in 2002. He should have no problem picking up where he left off. He has good speed (broke Deion Sanders’ Florida State record time of a 4.29 seconds in the 40 yard dash when he came out from college) though injuries had taken their toll on him, decent size (he stands at 5’11” and 195 pounds), good hands and is exceptional after the catch. That last part is very important in the West Coast offense that the Jets run with Pennington. It is not a great coincidence that Pennington had his best year in 2002 with 104.2 quarterback rating (68.9 completion percentage and 22 touchdowns as opposed to 6 interceptions) with Coles as his main target. He should immediately become Pennington’s go to guy and pick up where he left off in 2002. I expect him to grab 80+ balls for 1200+ yards and 8-10 touchdowns.

Santana Moss
Old Team: NYJ New Team: WAS
Here is the second half of the trade I talked about above. Moss is an exciting player. He can stop and accelerate to top speed in a heart beat. His 40 time coming out of college was a 4.31. He also has great body control and balance. He had a break out season after Coles left for Washington in 2003 with 74 catches for 1105 yards and 10 touchdowns. Moss is a big-play player not only at wide receiver, but also on special teams as a punt returner. He is a threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. This was something the Redskins wanted and needed. Their wide receivers averaged 11.46 yards per catch in 2004 while Santana Moss averaged 18.6. Though I think Coles is a better NFL wide receiver than Moss, as the old saying goes “Speed Kills”. Though this trade was probably made because Coles and Moss were both unhappy, Washington thought they needed speed to improve their offense for 2005 and they got it.

Plaxico Burress
Old Team: PIT New Team: NYG
One play in Burress’s rookie season told us a world about him. He was having your typical rookie season for a wide receiver. He caught the ball for a first down and proceeded to spike the ball in celebration (probably because it was all he did all year). The problem was he had not been touched so it was a fumble. Oops! Cowher benched him for the rest of the game. The Giants signed him to a nice 6 year 25 million dollar deal this off season. Burress should give the Giants that nice deep threat, but do not expect great numbers out of him. Remember that the Giants have a young and unproven quarterback in Eli Manning. Burress should get a solid 700 yards for about 5-6 touchdowns.

Jerome Pathon
Old Team: NO New Team: SEA
With Koren Robinson’s release, Pathon could very well be the starter on opening day in Seattle. Even though Bobby Engram is penciled in as starter opposite Darrell Jackson, I am not sure how long that will last. Pathon has always been solid 3rd wide receiver as his 581 receiving yards and 17.1 yards per catch in 2004 indicate. If given the chance, Pathon could be a nice sleeper in 2005.

David Patten
Old Team: NE New Team: WAS
With the only one starting spot in Washington sealed up (Santana Moss), Patten is as good as any candidate to emerge opposite Moss when they lineup on opening day. There is a logjam of Taylor Jacobs, James Thrash, Darnerien McCants, and Kevin Dyson at wide receiver in Washington. Patten can stretch the field and has the big game experience he earned with his three Super Bowl rings. In fact, I would be surprised if Patten didn’t earn the second starting spot at wide receiver in September.

Travis Taylor
Old Team: BAL New Team: MIN
Talk about busts. Taylor was selected 10th overall in the 2000 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens. Since then he has only averaged 41 catches for 551 yards and 3 touchdowns a season in his 5 NFL seasons. This is not exactly first round numbers. The Baltimore Ravens have decided to part ways and sign Derrick Mason as a free agent and drafted another wide receiver by the name of Mark Clayton in the first round. Taylor is now with the Moss-less Minnesota Vikings. A change of scenario could do him a world of good plus the difference between Boller and Culpepper throwing him the ball can not hurt his fantasy numbers. Consider Taylor a sleeper and nothing more though.

Johnnie Morton
Old Team: KC New Team: SF
Here is a nice sleeper for you. Morton is a player that averaged 767.5 receiving yards a season in 2003 and 2004. He also had over 1000 yards receiving four out of the last five seasons in Detroit ( he averaged 1038 yards a season from 1997-2001). Now he is going to be on a team where he will be a starter and most experienced receiver. I expect Morton to lead the team in receiving in 2005 and perhaps even get 1000 yards if everything breaks right.

Here are the rest of the receivers that moved to new teams this off season. One or two may even get their chance to start because of injuries or other...