We’re deep in the offseason, with training camp still roughly two months away, so much of the conversation around the Minnesota Vikings right now centers on what analysts are saying. In that vein, we came across a surprising piece from a well-known analysis site.
Pro Football Focus recently released their “All-PFF” team, titled “The NFL’s Best Players of the Past 25 Years.” If I told you only one Viking made the cut, even as an Honorable Mention, who would you guess it was?
Adrian Peterson? Nope.
Jared Allen? Sorry.
Harrison Smith? Try again.
Well, surely it’s Randy Moss, right? No, it isn’t him, either.
The only Viking who made a team comprised of the best NFL players of the past quarter century is. . .Antoine Winfield.
Winfield’s NFL career began in 1999, though even his seven remaining seasons in the PFF era yielded one of the best career marks of all time. He was among the 10 highest-graded players for his position in five out of seven years, and the top-graded player at his position three times between 2006 and when he retired in 2012.
While Winfield owns a top-10 PFF coverage grade all time (92.3), where he’s unique on this list of cornerbacks is that he also owns the best PFF run-defense grade (94.7) out of 355 qualifiers at the position since 2006. Winfield’s 107 run defense stops are tied for the second most of all time among cornerbacks, while his 2.47-yard average depth of tackle against the run ranks as the best mark among 137 qualifiers since 2006.
I’m a huge Antoine Winfield fan, and it’s great to see him get some recognition on a list like this. That said, the overall team selection highlights why these analyses can be hard to follow.
Let’s talk about Randy Moss’ exclusion, because it’s frankly absurd. Moss is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, which should automatically place him among the best players of the last 25 years. Yet, based on PFF’s grading, he doesn’t even make the team or earn an Honorable Mention.
The wide receivers selected were Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, and Tyreek Hill, with Calvin Johnson as the Honorable Mention. To start, Calvin Johnson was better than those three, and Moss was a cut above Johnson. So, we’re already in strange territory. Don’t get me wrong—Jones, Brown, and Hill are or were fantastic receivers, but none of them are on Randy Moss’ level.
As we often say when referencing Pro Football Focus, their numbers are a guide, not the final word. If your grading system leaves Randy Moss off the shortlist of top wide receivers from the past 25 years, it’s probably time to rethink your approach.
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