Victory Is Mine

Hines Ward's reputation will benefit from Plaxico's leaving

This is old news, but I figured I'd chime in with my two cents on Plaxico signing with the G-Men. Right now, most people are onto the fact that Hines Ward is a pretty damn good football player. But aside from the minority of folks who watch Edge NFL Matchup and thus get to listen to good football commentary, it's mostly Georgia grads or those who see some random dude on the Steelers ranked pretty high up in their fantasy football wide receiver rankings.

Sure he gets respect, and it's been growing in recent years, but it's still not nearly as much as he deserves - aside from starting every game the past four years and amassing 94, 112, 95, and 80 catches in each of those seasons (and 1,000 yards in each), he's probably the best blocking WR in the game (and I say this as the biggest Joe Horn fan there is). With Ward's vastly overrated teammate Plaxico Burress signing with the Giants, I would wager the still-underrated Ward is going to get a lot of positive press this year. Coverages will be more focused on him and he'll still school the hell out of them.

Good for Plaxico for getting that contract after averaging 20 yards a catch last year - but with his emotional baggage, my guess is his contribution on the field for the Giants is cancelled out by whatever he does on the sidelines, while Ward goes on to prove how integral he really is to that Steeler offense. I wouldn't be surprised if the 6'0" Ward winds up with 1,500 yards this year. Big Ben won't miss a beat with him still around.

posted by Publius @ 3:05 PM