The 2007 New England Patriots arguably will go down as one of the best teams in NFL history, but a member of that squad might have forgotten how great of an offense he was a part of.
Wes Welker is the wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins, who have taken the NFL by storm this season with their explosive offense led by Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill. The former Kansas City Chiefs wideout truly is a game-breaker, but when Hill was compared to Randy Moss, Welker had an eye-popping comparison between the pair.
“Randy Moss was the best deep ball receiver in the game,” Welker told reporters, per Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post. “Tyreek Hill runs the whole route tree. Name a route he can’t run. How he approaches every day and every game is very impressive. That’s where he separates himself.”
Whether it was intended, Welker’s quote seemed to suggest his former teammate merely was a deep-ball wideout and didn’t run a diverse route tree as Hill does. The Athletic’s Nate Tice, whose father Mike Tice coached Moss in the Minnesota Vikings, posted multiple clips on social media, which featured the Hall of Fame wide receiver dominating in multiple areas of the field.
The Tom Brady-to-Moss deep-ball connection shaped a generation and easily made the four-time All-Pro receiver among the best in Patriots history. But it’s clear looking back that Moss did so much more for New England than just run deep waiting for Brady to sling it.
It’s likely Welker wanted to bestow high praise for Hill for the kind of season he’s having. But the former Patriots receiver might have gone too hyperbolic for a segment of fans.
