The Tampa Bay Rays just traded away a fan favorite, and this was in the St. Petersburg paper this morning. I would have said or written that as simply "as good a player." Adding the additional two little words (of & a) seems unnecessary and maybe even a little awkward. Also seems to me that shorter is almost always better unless the meaning is distorted. Am I alone in my opinion?
No, you're not alone. Shorter sentences and simple language tend to give much more impact to your writing.
I'd opt for "as good a player" being optimal; "as good player" sounds too Western Unionish.
You'd probably find me writing "as good of a player", though. Conversational style tends to be easy reading, even if it's less punchy, and in conversational English, people do tend to say "as gooduva player".
deaconB said
people do tend to say "as gooduva player".
Not at my house!
There is more discussion of this construction here:
not that good of a team