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Originally Posted by Spielman
Jeff Garcia isn't a good example, since he changed teams entirely. Besides, Garcia's passer ratings in the last two years before he and Owens left the Niners were 85.6 and 80.1. Last year in Cleveland he was at 76.7 and this year in two games he's got 75.0. A decline, sure, but he was already in serious decline before he left the Niners.
McNabb's rating certainly shot up, as has Collins's in a small sample size. As for Montana, I'm not sure I'd want to hang too much of an argument on a 37-38 year old guy who switched to another (worse overall offensively, not just in terms of not having Jerry Rice) team and still put up 87.4 and 83.6 as his ratings in his final two seasons.
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Right, that's what's tough about football. Every player has context. So you can say:
Montana: was in decline phase
Collins: small sample size
Garcia: a difference, but not 20 points
Culpepper: entire team fell apart
McNabb: just coming into his own
But you end up having to make excuses for every player. You'd think that at least ONE of the guys who saw TO or Moss come or go would go against the grain. That simply isn't the case. They have all had differences that corraborate TO and Moss being hugely valuable.