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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/Omega43-j on 2024-04-21 03:16:39.
Welcome back to my sporadic off-season series of shit posts where I talk about a fan favorite, hall-of-very-good, fringe great, or whatever other saying you want to put in about a player.
Today, I’ll be talking about Eric Moulds. A certified badass receiver for the Buffalo Bills. I always thought that if you gave him a competent quarterback, that this guy would produce. But I was wrong. He did it with suboptimal quarterback play and he had a great compliment lined up on the other side of the field in Peerless Price, creating a heck of a receiving threat.
Dude had size, dude had speed, he had hands, he was physical, he was shifty, the guy was great. Loved watching him play and he came out of po-dunk Mississippi State as the numba 1 draft pick for the Bills in 1996.
Let’s get to the break down. Starting off, the College years.
Mississippi State Bulldogs (1993-1995)
Coming out of high school, this man was an ATH-THA-LEET. Standing in at 6’2 and weighing 215 pounds, Moulds enjoyed a standout career at George County High, one that saw him help the Rebels post their first ever win over Pascagoula in school history in a 20-17 victory over the homestanding Panthers in 1991.
He received and accepted an offer to the Mississippi State Bulldogs (Hotty Toddy), and he quickly turned heads with just how damn impact impactful he could be.
In his college career, he totalled 117 catches for 2,022 yards and 17 tds. He benefited from having a fellow first round pick lining up across from him in practice, trying to guard him, in Walt Harris, a fellow Mississippi Native.
He was 2nd All-Sec in '94 by posting 39 catches for 845 yards and 7 tds. He also led Div-1 with a ridiculous 32.8 kickoff return average.
In '95 he was selected by his coaches as an All-League player by posting 62 catches for 779 yards and 6 touchdowns.
He entered the NFL draft as a highly touted prospect and if you didn’t know, the 1996 draft was stacked with wideouts. Here’s a list of notables taken in the first round:
- Keyshawn Johnson (no. 1)
- Terry Glenn (no. 7)
- Marvin Harrison (no. 19)
- Eric Moulds (no. 24)
Professional Career (1996-2007)
Buffalo Bills (1996-2005)
Immediately, Moulds joined a high powered Bills offense, highlighted by Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas, and the K Gun himself, Jim Kelly. Although Moulds did not light up the stat sheet his rookie year, only putting up 250 and change yards with 2 tds, he still helped lead them to a 10-6 record and was named to the PFWA All-Rookie team.
After the K Gun retired, the Bills flopped to a 6-10 record in '97 and Moulds didn’t even score a receiving TD this year.
But hey it’s all good. In '98 Moulds over took an aging Andre Reed on the depth chart and exploded onto the scene with 1,368 yards, 9 tds on just 67 catch for a ridiculous 20.4 yards per catch. This helped the Bills bounce back to a 10-6 record, a Wild Card Spot, his first 2nd Team All-pro selection, and his first Pro-Bowl.
WARNING! MUSIC CITY MIRACLE MENTION BELOW! Okay. The '99 season is a bit painful for Bills fans, but I got to talk about it here. The team went 11-5 led by Heisman Winning QB Doug Flutie. Moulds contributed with 66 catches and almost 1k yards, and 7 tds. (This was also the first year he was paired with Peerless Price, another good receiver for the Bills in this era.) They made the playoffs, but in a head scratching move, they decided to start a different QB in Rob Johnson…didn’t go well as they got bounced in the Wildcard to the Titans on what would be known as the Music City Miracle. Ugh. What could have been that year?
Moulds was such a model of consistency in his tenure with the Bills. Another year another 1k+ yard season. In 2000 he posted a 1,300 yard season with 5 tds on 94 catches and getting his 2nd Pro-Bowl.
In '02 Moulds would finally be paired with a good Quarterback, Drew Bledsoe, and even though the team went 8-8, Moulds got almost 1,300 yards on 100 catches and got his first double digit receiving touchdown season with 10, his second 2nd Team All-pro, getting his 3rd Pro-Bowl nod.
After the 2005 season, he would be traded to the Houston Texans for a 5th round pick (the Bills selected fan favorite NT Kyle Williams) and he would be paired with another HoF Receiver for the 2nd time in his career with Andre Johnson. Unfortunately, this didn’t translate to wins as the Texans only won 6. He posted 557 yards on 57 catches and 1 td. He would be released following the seasons end.
He would have one final season with the Titans in '07 and even though he didn’t do too hot, he still ended his career on a winning team with them going 10-6.
Career stats: -186 games played -764 catches -9,995 yards -13.0 avg -84 long -49 receiving touchdowns -3x Pro-Bowl -2x Second-team All-Pro -All rookie team (1996) -Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame -Mississippi State Hall of Fame -Most receiving yards in a season (Bills) 1,368 (Broken in 2020 by Diggs) -Only player in team history with 100 rec (Broken by Diggs in 2020) -Him and Andre Reed are the only Bill’s receivers to have 4 straight 1,000 seasons -50th Anniversary All-Time Team
Moulds was a great receiver in the late 90s early 2000s. In his eight seasons as the number one receiver for the Bills (1998-2005), Moulds had 626 receptions for 8,523 yards, an average of 78.25 catches and 1,065 yards per season. Moulds’s yardage was 7th-most in the NFL over that span.
Hope you enjoyed the write up. I’m a bored fan in the offseason like you. If you have a player you want me to write about that you think deserves love, let me know! All I ask is that he be retired at least 10 years and not in the Hall of Fame.
Thanks for reading!
Career Highlights: