By Brian Jonas
September 26, 2008 3:12pm CDT

The 2001 NFL draft class featured an interesting selection of wide receivers in terms of their relation of draft spot to actual NFL production at their position. Consider the following draft selections at the wide receiver position during that draft:

#8 overall: David Terrell (Chicago Bears)

#9 overall: Koren Robinson (Seattle Seahawks)

#15 overall: Rod Gardner (Washington Redskins)

#16 overall: Santana Moss (New York Jets)

#30 overall: Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts)

#36 overall: Chad Johnson...er...Ocho Cinco (Cincinnati Bengals)

#204 overall: T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Cincinnati Bengals)

The first three wide receivers taken, in the words of Chris Farley's "Matt Foley" character, didn't amount to jack squat! On this list, Santana Moss is stuck in limbo between never-has-beens, and superstardom.

Career:

2001 (New York Jets): 5 games, 2 receptions, 40 yards, 0 touchdowns.

2002 (New York Jets): 15 games, 30 receptions, 433 yards, 4 touchdowns.

2003 (New York Jets): 16 games, 74 receptions, 1,105 yards, 10 touchdowns.

2004 (New York Jets): 15 games, 45 receptions, 838 yards, 5 touchdowns.

2005 (Washington Redskins): 16 games, 84 receptions, 1,483 yards, 9 touchdowns.

2006 (Washington Redskins): 14 games, 55 receptions, 790 yards, 6 touchdowns.

2007 (Washington Redskins): 14 games, 61 receptions, 808 yards, 3 touchdowns.


GOOD NEWS

A rolling stone gathers no moss, and like a rolling stone, this pocket rocket is showing no signs of slowing down this season with a hot start. Moss has averaged 92 yards and a touchdown through the first three games of this season. His overall production in the major categories has him ranked as follows: Receptions (T4), Yards (T2), and Touchdowns (T2).

As a former quarterback, rookie head coach Jim Zorn isn't afraid of airing it out, knowing he has a reliable ground game lead by Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts that can get him the tough yards. Moss has quickly become the beneficiary of the new Zorn regime and his philosophy of "death from above." It would make any Army Ranger paratrooper proud. Make no mistake, this is no "Air Coryell" Chargers team, and it's not led by the grizzly-bearded Dan Fouts, but rather the former first-rounder Jason Campbell out of Auburn University.

As Jason Campbell goes, so does Santana Moss. As such, it's important to note the progression of Campbell in terms of his offensive production over the last few years, including this season.

2006: 7 games, 1,297 yds, 10 tds, 6 ints, 53.1% completions
2007: 13 games, 2,700 yards, 12 tds, 11 ints, 60.0% completions
2008: 3 games, 647 yards, 4 tds, 0 ints, 65.3% completions

Campbell's efficiency has improved, as has his decision making, as through three games he has not thrown an interception, which was his Achilles' heal last year. More importantly, three of his four touchdowns have all found safe harbor within the sticky mitts of Santana Moss.

Clearly, the two have developed a connection in training camp and during the infancy of this season under the watchful eye of head coach Jim Zorn.


BAD NEWS

In his career, Moss has caught passes from the likes of Vinny Testaverde, Chad Pennington, Mark Brunell and now, Jason Campbell. Though respectable, those quarterbacks will never be confused for players like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Tony Romo or Drew Brees. That being said, Moss was always able to do a lot with a little, as evidenced by his career yards per catch average of 15.6. Just compare that to elite wide receivers known for their penchant for the big play, such as Randy Moss (15.7 YPC), Terrell Owens (14.9 YPC) and Reggie Wayne (14.1 YPC).

The bad news in the equation is the reliability of Moss getting the football. So far this year he has averaged a hair over six receptions per game and is on pace for 101 receptions for the year. That would obliterate his career mark for single-season receptions, but is it only a matter of time before defensive coordinators start scheming to stop the Redskins top weapon (thus far this season)?

Moss has missed two games in each of the past two seasons with the Redskins. In addition, he may have started 14 games in each of the past two seasons, but he didn't finish them. He has had noted hamstring issues and an assortment of other maladies that have prevented him from entering rarified air with the above mentioned fellow wide receivers. He's a big-play receiver whose potential hurdles every season are the distinct possibility of missing time (as history has shown), but more so, the lack of balls thrown his way. Consider that the past three seasons in Washington, his reception totals were; 84 (2005), 55 (2006), and 61 (2007). If you projected the last two seasons out to a full 16-game schedule, his totals would have read; 84, 62, and 70. Even with Moss' great YPC average, those modest reception totals won't push him into the next level. To truly exploit the big-play ability of Moss, Zorn will have to call his number more in the passing game.


VERDICT

The Redskins have long been know for their offensive lines (think Hogs) and their desire to pound the football with the likes of John Riggins, Earnest Byner, Terry Allen, Stephen Davis and Clinton Portis. Though the Redskins still lean on their running game led by Portis, these Redskins aren't your father's Redskins anymore. Not with head coach Jim Zorn leading the way. It's no surprise that a former quarterback (and quarterbacks coach) would prefer to move the ball through the air. Moss and Jason Campbell certainly are the beneficiaries of Zorn's offensive scheme.

With potential shootouts against the division rivals Cowboys (Week 4) and the following week against Donovan McNabb and company, Moss and Campbell can be expected to hook up as often or even more than they have this season already. Fantasy owners of Moss also have to be licking their chops looking ahead to the cupcake matchups versus suspect pass-defenses against the Rams, Browns and Lions in weeks 6-8, respectively.

In seeing this newfound chemistry between Campbell and Moss, as well as a number of favorable matchups through the first half of the season, you can probably expect more fireworks coming from Moss, and his recent outstanding production this season is indeed a trend.