Cowboys WRs & Dez Bryant

[Cult of Dionysus]

Kinda surprised how little chatter there is on this forum about the Cowboys WR situation and Dez Bryant. Recent reports indicate that the Cowboys will cut Dez Bryant unless he restructures his contract. And based on what was said today, I think they are pretty much resigned to push him out the door. Stephen Jones, son of Jerry Jones and a Cowboys exec, says that it's a tough decision... No way you air that in public if you intend to keep the guy, imho.

http://www.espn.com/blog/dallas-cowboys ... t-decision

And Dez Bryant has already responded on Twitter as well.

So what happens if Dez Bryant leaves. He was a top 5 WR not too long ago, but his production has been derailed by injury and possibly age. Still he's better than most Free AGents, if he becomes available, catapulting him to the top or nearly to the top of the charts.

As for the Cowboys, what would this do to their WR corps? I invested in Brice Butler a few months ago, just for this exact reason. If Dez leaves, that puts Butler in prime position. The Cowboys also have a decent 1st round draft pick. Might they spend it on a top rookie prospect?

[Bot101]

Hes getting a little too much hate. He certainly didnt look very good though. Im a cowboys fan, I watch every play. Even before the wheels truly fell off I was desperately trying to trade him (gave dez, got derrick henry). At the time I got flamed. But I imagine that was by the box score hunters and not those who watched him play. The descending is really there. Even his biggest strength, his hands and my ball mentality slipped.

[Jacob]

I think the problem lies more with Dak than with Dez.

[Bot101]

I think the problem lies more with Dak than with Dez.

Until you watch them play. Not saying Dak didnt make mistakes, because he very clearly did. But Dez looked awful.

[Kramer]

I think a change of scenery might be just what he needs. Dak was never the QB to throw 50/50 balls for Dez effectively. Now some of that blame lies with Dez as well, but if he were to go to another team with a better-suited QB (like Carolina, 49ers or maybe the Bears), he could potentially turn it around. I don't think he will do great in Dallas, so as an owner I'm hoping he leaves and signs are pointing to exactly that happening.

As for the Cowboys, they've said they want to make the offense Dak friendly. Maybe that means trading for a guy like Landry who can get open. They'll be looking for a good WR either in free agency or via the draft. I don't think they spend an early pick on one though.

[Bot101]

Matt Kelley had a guest on his podcast not too long ago that said the Cowboys were inquiring about Josh Doctson. Probably nothing will come of that, but its interesting none the less.

[skip]

I think the problem lies more with Dak than with Dez.

Disagree completely. Dez was never a great route runner and got by on his physical skills which haven't been the same since his injuries. The drop in production was happening regardless of the QB. Going to another club isn't fixing what's already broken.

As for the Cowboys WRs, it's been crap other than Dez for a while so it will be just crap. They are going to finally have to bring in a good free agent if they release him.

[Cowboysfan33]

I’ve said it time and time again. They won’t release him, they’ll restructure him and yes I read the comments that Stephen Jones made but that still doesn’t change my mind. The Cowboys are around 19 mill under right now, with Dez under contract, they wouldn’t save enough if they cut him to sign any top notch WR to replace him, plus the FA WRs aren’t very good, the only two that I think they would be very interested in would be AROB and maybe Watkins but Robinson will probably be tagged and Watkins will want a fortune plus with his injury history, highly doubtful that the Cowboys would even pursue him. Yes, Dez has regressed some but I don’t think he’s near as bad as a lot of people are saying and also, some of it, is on Dak too. He and Dez haven’t even come close to the connection that Romo & Dez had, I know some of that is Dez isn’t as good or young as he was with Tony but Dak doesn’t anticipate or throw open receivers near as well as Tony did, not yet. Anyway, we will see soon enough but I would bet big that we will see either a restructured contract or they will just let him play out 2018, see how it goes then decide next offseason.

[Riffraff]

I think the problem lies more with Dak than with Dez.

Until you watch them play. Not saying Dak didnt make mistakes, because he very clearly did. But Dez looked awful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzIlUmUWnCU

[theone]

There is no way to get around it. It is not a coincidence Dez's statistical decline coincided with Romo not being there. You can put some of Dez's issues on injuries in 2015 and 2016 but Dak's tape was just terrible after the beginning of 2017 (Tackle injuries and Zeke missing time played a sizeable role here). Dez suffered from one of the worst catchable ball rates in the league last year. Dak is just not close to Romo at this stage in his career in terms of anticipation, accuracy, and making plays with his arm when protection breaks down. Dez did not help at all with a high drop rate and the bad throws clearly had an effect on him as his play diminished as the season wore on.

There is hope for both Dak and Dez moving forward though. Dez still showed off his after catch explosiveness and power finishing with the 5th most WR forced tackles despite being just 24th in receptions. A hopefully healthy Tyron Smith and a full season of Zeke would give Dak more time and a cleaner pocket which hopefully translates to much better throws in 2018.

[Vcize]

I think the problem lies more with Dak than with Dez.

Until you watch them play. Not saying Dak didnt make mistakes, because he very clearly did. But Dez looked awful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzIlUmUWnCU

Wow I watched about half that and what I came away with is that he rarely has any separation on those incompletions. The CB is step for step with him on virtually every play. I understand the concept of throwing a guy open and body position, but those plays are supposed to be the exception, not the norm.

Regardless I don't think Dak is ever going to be that kind of QB. He's pretty competetent at finding open receivers. Throwing them open is not his strength.

[Cowboysfan33]

Regardless I don't think Dak is ever going to be that kind of QB. He's pretty competetent at finding open receivers. Throwing them open is not his strength.

This I agree with, I’m pulling hard for Dak but I don’t think he’ll ever be the passer that Romo was and in some cases, that’s a good thing because he won’t throw as many interceptions but he also won’t always make the big play because he doesn’t take chances as much as Romo. As far as Dez, he has regressed, basically just like very other WR that is about to be 30 but he never was a speed guy and rarely had great separation, but regardless, I still believe they settle on a restructured contract and play out next season, then go from there.

[Cowboysfan33]

There is no way to get around it. It is not a coincidence Dez's statistical decline coincided with Romo not being there. You can put some of Dez's issues on injuries in 2015 and 2016 but Dak's tape was just terrible after the beginning of 2017 (Tackle injuries and Zeke missing time played a sizeable role here). Dez suffered from one of the worst catchable ball rates in the league last year. Dak is just not close to Romo at this stage in his career in terms of anticipation, accuracy, and making plays with his arm when protection breaks down. Dez did not help at all with a high drop rate and the bad throws clearly had an effect on him as his play diminished as the season wore on.

There is hope for both Dak and Dez moving forward though. Dez still showed off his after catch explosiveness and power finishing with the 5th most WR forced tackles despite being just 24th in receptions. A hopefully healthy Tyron Smith and a full season of Zeke would give Dak more time and a cleaner pocket which hopefully translates to much better throws in 2018.

Good post and I agree with a lot of it. Especially how losing Tyron Smith and specifically Zeke for 6 games, definitely played a role.

[nathanq42]

I need to see one of those videos for arob's 2016 season...

[Jfever]

After watching that entire clip, it's pretty clear that it isn't all on Dez. SF would be an interesting spot.