Cowboys hot topic: It may be time for an “amicable divorce” from Dez Bryant

Cotton

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Genghis Khan said:
The point is, usually if it's an anonymous coach they'll say, "a cowboys coach." Staffer could be just about anybody.
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A person "on the Cowboys staff" would mean on the coaching staff, right? Here is another article about it.

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Report: Cowboys’ coaches think Dez Bryant is slipping physically
Posted by Michael David Smith on April 6, 2018, 5:39 AM EDT

Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant is 29 years old, and may already be past his prime.

That’s the word from Albert Breer of SI.com, who reports that the Cowboys’ coaches began to see Bryant slip physically in 2015 and now think he just isn’t the same player he was when the Cowboys signed him to a five-year, $70 million contract. That physical decline is measurable, as Bryant has lost inches on his vertical jump.

“Based on last year,” one member of the Cowboys’ staff told Breer, “he does very few things really well.”

Bryant was averaging 1,312 yards a season in the three years before he signed his contract. In the three years since signing his contract, Bryant has averaged 678 yards a season. Given that Bryant is owed $12.5 million, it’s easy to see the Cowboys cutting him.

However, Jerry Jones has always liked Bryant, and it’s Jones’s team. It’s possible that Jones will decide to give Bryant another year to prove himself. But it’s also possible that Bryant, who once looked likely to be a Cowboy for life, could be gone before turning 30.
 
Genghis Khan

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There's exactly one quote in that article.

“Based on last year,” one staffer says, “he does very few things really well.”

The entire rest of the article is conjecture from the author.

That's not even a damning quote. He qualifies it by saying, based on last year. And he qualifies it again by saying "few" and he qualifies it yet again by saying "really well."

So in other words, Bryant DOES do a few things really well. And at everything else he could range from sucks to good, but the staffer doesn't clarify. We just know that it's not "really well." And it's based specifically on last year's performance.

Honestly there's almost no meat to the quote. But the author spun it to make a sensational story that can draw hits to the website.

Congrats I guess.
 
Cowboysrock55

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Genghis Khan said:
There's exactly one quote in that article.

“Based on last year,” one staffer says, “he does very few things really well.”

The entire rest of the article is conjecture from the author.

That's not even a damning quote. He qualifies it by saying, based on last year. And he qualifies it again by saying "few" and he qualifies it yet again by saying "really well."

So in other words, Bryant DOES do a few things really well. And at everything else he could range from sucks to good, but the staffer doesn't clarify. We just know that it's not "really well." And it's based specifically on last year's performance.

Honestly there's almost no meat to the quote. But the author spun it to make a sensational story that can draw hits to the website.

Congrats I guess.
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I wouldn't read that much in to it. I think it's mostly about the fact that Dez played poorly last year. Which he did. And I'm sure he has lost some athleticism starting in 2015. It was 2015 when he had the serious injury to his foot. I don't think it's a stretch at all to say athletically he hasn't been the same since that injury. It's not an easy one to come back from. Plus Dez hinted at the fact that he was playing hurt last year and obviously in 2016 he was dealing with a high ankle sprain. I think hits have taken a toll on the guy over the course of his career. He has always been one who didn't shy away from contact. Unfortunately that usually leads to a shorter NFL career.
 
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ravidubey

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It’s an almost meaningless quote.

Dez was never a guy who surprised you with route running or outran defenders, but if you throw him open you’ll always have potential for a big play.

Dez still breaks more tackles than top WRs (posted this recently) but that matters less if all the routes have shrunk. And that clearly happened last year to all receivers who caught a meaningful number of passes.

It it spoke to not only the aging receivers slowing down but also the OL succumbing to depletion and injury, the QB regressing, and a major lack of confidence and production in the running game.

Conclusions: Dez and Witten can’t be slated #1 starters this time next year, the OL needs the kind of anchoring help at guard that Leary provided, and Dak needs to play better under pressure because there is going to continue to be a lot more of that than he experienced in unicorn 2016.
 
Cowboysrock55

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ravidubey said:
Dez was never a guy who surprised you with route running or outran defenders, but if you throw him open you’ll always have potential for a big play.
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The point is he is getting worse at these things. Just because he was never a burner doesn't mean he didn't have speed. Speed that he has now lost some of. I never understood the defense that "well he never out ran guys before" like speed doesn't matter at all for him. If he is slower you can't just "throw him open" it doesn't work that way. Otherwise you'd have 6'7" WR's in the NFL with absolutely no speed or athleticism. It's a silly argument to make. If a corner is allowed to stand right next to him because he can't get any separation all you're doing is throwing 50/50 balls at best. A WR needs to at least have enough speed to keep the corner guessing as to when and where the ball is coming. I don't think Dez's athleticism has eroded to that point. But it's not where it was in 2013.
 
ravidubey

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Dez is still fast enough, and he’s also an easy target for those looking to deflect blame who should instead be looking to take or share responsibility.

Thats is all this candidness really is. Throw shade at a target whom people don’t like in order to keep yourself from drowning.

It’s a tough world, and Dez’s enemies have become sympathetic and his “friends” are slowly revealing themselves as enemies.

No wonder he had to go to another coach this offseason. What losers we must have on the sidelines to drive a player to that.
 
jsmith6919

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ravidubey said:
Dez is still fast enough, and he’s also an easy target for those looking to deflect blame who should instead be looking to take or share responsibility.

Thats is all this candidness really is. Throw shade at a target whom people don’t like in order to keep yourself from drowning.

It’s a tough world, and Dez’s enemies have become sympathetic and his “friends” are slowly revealing themselves as enemies.

No wonder he had to go to another coach this offseason. What losers we must have on the sidelines to drive a player to that.
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blah, blah, blah, all i heard was
 
Cowboysrock55

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ravidubey said:
Dez is still fast enough, and he’s also an easy target for those looking to deflect blame who should instead be looking to take or share responsibility.

Thats is all this candidness really is. Throw shade at a target whom people don’t like in order to keep yourself from drowning.

It’s a tough world, and Dez’s enemies have become sympathetic and his “friends” are slowly revealing themselves as enemies.

No wonder he had to go to another coach this offseason. What losers we must have on the sidelines to drive a player to that.
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Or throw shade at the receiver who performed worse than any of the other receivers but made the most money.
 
Cotton

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jsmith6919 said:
blah, blah, blah, all i heard was
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:lol

I made one of those for [MENTION=128]kidd[/MENTION] concerning Romo back in the day. Ahh, the memories.
 
deadrise

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ravidubey said:
Dez is still fast enough, and he’s also an easy target for those looking to deflect blame who should instead be looking to take or share responsibility.

Thats is all this candidness really is. Throw shade at a target whom people don’t like in order to keep yourself from drowning.

It’s a tough world, and Dez’s enemies have become sympathetic and his “friends” are slowly revealing themselves as enemies.

No wonder he had to go to another coach this offseason. What losers we must have on the sidelines to drive a player to that.
Click to expand...

Dez was never exceptionally fast to begin with -- 4.55 forty at the combine is very average. His strengths, as have been cataloged many times before, were physicality, leaping ability, combativeness for the ball, and RAC.

In addition, Dez would be a more sympathetic figure now were it not for his brushes with the law early on and his disruptive sideline theatrics. Hard to sympathize with a guy who thinks he's the center of the universe.

Dez would be a valuable contributor if a) his salary was a lot lower, and, b) if The Brain Trust had a WR whose speed was concern to defenses, who forced one safety to play deep. Dez running loose underneath, at a lower salary, could be a real weapon. Put the ball in his hands on a drag route and watch him run.

Right now he gets paid too much to play that role. And his ego won't let him.
 
ravidubey

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Those who’ve followed this long thread know I don’t consider Dez an elite WR anymore.

I’ve only maintained it’s beyond this teams “braintrust” to replace him this year. Even if you draft the best college WR he’s not going to be what you’re hoping by playoff time.

I will I’ll admit Hurns is better than I thought they’d do. A lot better, though he’s still an injury risk.
 
boozeman

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