Is Tyreek Hill better than Randy Moss? Skip Bayless, Michael Irvin back up Wes Welker
Wes Welker knows a thing or two about being around NFL greatness. The Miami Dolphins wide receiver coach caught passes from both Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in his playing career and played alongside several elite receivers, most notably Hall of Famer Randy Moss during his historic 2007 season where Moss and Brady helped lead the New England Patriots to a nearly-perfect season.
So it turned plenty of heads when Welker referred to current Dolphins star Tyreek Hill as the best wide receiver he had ever been around.
“Randy is probably the best deep ball receiver, ever in the game. But Tyreek can run the whole route tree,” Welker told reporters recently, via Sports Illustrated. “He can run [option] routes, he can run [two-way go routes]. He can take the top off [the defensive backfield]. His ball skills, coming in and out of breaks. Name a route you don’t like [Tyreek] on. I can’t think of one.”
“That’s what separates him in that regard. His mindset, and the way he approaches every single day, and every single game. It’s very impressive that he’s got that mentality, along with all those [skills].”
Hill was reportedly humbled by Welker’s praise. On “Undisputed,” Michael Irvin — a Hall of Fame receiver himself — said that Hill has earned that praise due to his versatility, which separates him from more old-school outside receivers like Irvin and Moss.
“I’m a pure wide receiver,” Irvin said. “That means I want to see you out wide, beating a cornerback man-to-man. That’s how we came up. That’s what we were about. Now, the game is changing. We have these amalgamations of a running back and a wide receiver playing. Tyreek Hill is not just a wide receiver, he can fit in those other categories.”
“I couldn’t play in the slot. There is so much [more] going on in the slot that you have to deal with. … That’s a more difficult thing. It’s not just about you getting open. It’s better when you know when to be open. A quarterback dropping back may be reading upfield — first read, second read upfield — he’s coming back to you late. So you can’t leave the line of scrimmage right away and get open, because he ain’t ready to throw the ball, and by the time he gets back to you, that zone or man [defense] will close down on you. There’s so much going on there. You’ve got to know where everybody is then position yourself properly at the proper time.”
Irvin believes going over the middle of the field like that requires an extra level of mental acumen that Hill has, and that neither Irvin himself nor Moss possessed in their playing days — and which Welker knows better than just about anyone. Additionally, Irvin pointed out that Hill can do things like catch jet sweeps or run inside seam routes that Moss rarely did.
“Wes Welker knows Randy Moss can’t do it because [Welker] had to do it for [the Patriots],” Irvin said. “[Hill] does do it. You build your whole system around Tyreek Hill. You build your passing game around Randy Moss. This is what Wes Welker is talking about.”
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Skip Bayless agreed, despite stating he was a huge proponent of Moss during the latter’s playing career.
“I know Randy Moss, but I haven’t seen anything like what this guy is doing in Miami right now,” Bayless said. “All the routes, all the running back plays, all the screens, all the reverses — he is more explosively versatile than Randy was.”
Hill is still on pace for the first 2,000-yard receiving season in NFL history, leading all wideouts in the league with 1,481 yards through Week 13. The Dolphins are 9-3, first in the AFC East.
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