Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars vs NFL

[74_75_78_79_]

In the just three years of their existence, how do you think Mora's Stars would have done had they acually been in the NFL? What teams in '83/'84/'85 would they have beaten?

[Bryan]

The Stars had a good organization. If they are allowed to change their roster after entering the NFL in 1983, they probably would have been a competitive team by 1985. If they are forced to use their exact rosters from 1983, 1984 & 1985, then they probably don't fare so well. I'm not sure you can win games in the NFL with your offensive stars being Chuck Fusina, Kelvin Bryant & Scott Fitzkee.

In general, the USFL had a lot of talent, but that talent was spread out over too many teams. If Cliff Stoudt can dominate your league, then you probably can't simply transplant a franchise to the NFL and expect it to win.

[BD Sullivan]

I recall a story about a Packers scout attending the 1984 USFL Championship Game to specifically watch the play of Kit Lathrop, a DL for Arizona (playing Philly) who the Packers had released a few years earlier and had gone on to flourish in the USFL. The scout came away unimpressed that the Packers had missed out on a quality player. There's no indication that the Browns regretted cutting LB Sam Mills, even though he went on to put up a good NFL career with Mora in New Orleans.

[Gary Najman]

I recall a story about a Packers scout attending the 1984 USFL Championship Game to specifically watch the play of Kit Lathrop, a DL for Arizona (playing Philly) who the Packers had released a few years earlier and had gone on to flourish in the USFL. The scout came away unimpressed that the Packers had missed out on a quality player. There's no indication that the Browns regretted cutting LB Sam Mills, even though he went on to put up a good NFL career with Mora in New Orleans.

Lathrop would play all 16 games in 1986 for Kansas City after the USFL folded.

[Gary Najman]

I'm not sure you can win games in the NFL with your offensive stars being Chuck Fusina, Kelvin Bryant & Scott Fitzkee.

I remember watching Bryant in 1981 and 1982 playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels and I was convinced that he would have been a NFL 1st or second rounder in 1983 if the USFL didn't existed. It turned out that the Redskins selected him in the 7th round after he signed with the Stars, and he didn't do much in the NFL after the USFL folded. Anyone knows why Bryant was so improductive in the NFL?

[7DnBrnc53]

I'm not sure you can win games in the NFL with your offensive stars being Chuck Fusina, Kelvin Bryant & Scott Fitzkee.

I remember watching Bryant in 1981 and 1982 playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels and I was convinced that he would have been a NFL 1st or second rounder in 1983 if the USFL didn't existed. It turned out that the Redskins selected him in the 7th round after he signed with the Stars, and he didn't do much in the NFL after the USFL folded. Anyone knows why Bryant was so improductive in the NFL?

I think he was sharing time with George Rogers, and also Timmy Smith by 1987.

[nicefellow31]

I'm not sure you can win games in the NFL with your offensive stars being Chuck Fusina, Kelvin Bryant & Scott Fitzkee.

I remember watching Bryant in 1981 and 1982 playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels and I was convinced that he would have been a NFL 1st or second rounder in 1983 if the USFL didn't existed. It turned out that the Redskins selected him in the 7th round after he signed with the Stars, and he didn't do much in the NFL after the USFL folded. Anyone knows why Bryant was so improductive in the NFL?

He was a pretty good receiver on 3rd downs for the Skins up until 1987. He got injured in 88 and 89 and retired in 1990

[Bryan]

I remember watching Bryant in 1981 and 1982 playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels and I was convinced that he would have been a NFL 1st or second rounder in 1983 if the USFL didn't existed. It turned out that the Redskins selected him in the 7th round after he signed with the Stars, and he didn't do much in the NFL after the USFL folded. Anyone knows why Bryant was so improductive in the NFL?

Bryant wasn't especially big for a RB...just kind of average-sized. As someone else mentioned, he filled the Joe Washington/Nick Giaquinto receiving RB role extremely well for Joe Gibbs. He just never established himself as the #1 RB.

I think Bryant was probably the 2nd best USFL RB behind Herschel Walker. There were a lot of guys in the USFL that had big rushing seasons who didn't really come close to duplicating those numbers in the NFL. Buford Jordan, Maurice Carthon, Bill Johnson, Tim Spencer (ick), Albert Bentley. Mediocre NFL RBs like Kevin Long and Arthur Whittington put up 1000-yard seasons. You could even say that Herschel Walker and Gary Anderson were disappointments in the NFL if you used their USFL careers as comparison.

[TanksAndSpartans]

It's not easy to measure, but I would say Maurice Carthon was very valuable to the Giants offense as a blocking FB. He played 16 games per year for 7 years after the USFL.

[conace21]

Bryant performed fairly well in his role. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry for his career and was a pretty fair receiver, averaging nearly 11 yards per catch in his first three years. He just didn't fit the definition of a lead back for Washington in their one back offense.
One thing I was surprised about, is Joe Gibbs almost never threw to his big backs. I mean NEVER. John Riggins averaged six catches per season his last three years. George Rodgers averaged 11 catches per year with the Saints. He caught 11 balls total in his three seasons in D.C. Timmy Smith caught 9 passes in his two years there. Gerald Riggs caught seven balls in each of his first two seasons there, and 1 pass in 1991, when he was a short yardage back. I think Byner was the first starting back for Gibbs who caught a fair number of passes, but Byner was also smaller than his predecessors.
I'm sure that when the big backs were in on pass plays, they mostly stayed into block, but still....you'd figure that Theismann/Schroeder/Williams/Rypien would dump the ball off to them once or twice a game as a fourth option.