Return of the X: Should the Dallas Cowboys sign Dez Bryant?
Accolades are in Favor
When evaluating a player’s career, looking at their accolades is usually the first thing people do. What has Bryant accomplished in his eight-year career so far?
First, let’s look at his stats within the Cowboys organization. Bryant ranks fifth in receiving yards and first in receiving touchdowns. Yes, he has more touchdowns than tight end Jason Witten and Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin.
Bryant is on top of many names that have played for the Dallas Cowboys. Signing him would allow him to try to crawl his way into the third spot for receiving yards and pass wide receiver Tony Hill.
Bryant is just outside the top 40 in career receiving touchdowns in the NFL, ranking 39th. If he signs with the Cowboys, he can crack the top 25 in a season or two. He only needs nine touchdowns to tie wide receiver, Reggie Wayne for the 25th spot.
By looking at that, you can say that Dez is one of the better wide receivers in NFL history at catching touchdowns. That’s also in only eight seasons, with four of them limited by injuries.
As far as receiving yards, he is ranked 121st. That is a lot further down than his touchdowns. With only 532 yards, Dez can make his way into the top 100 in this category.
Bryant is this low in receiving yards, yet high in touchdowns because Dez has always been looked at as a red-zone threat or a big-play wide receiver rather than an every-down reliable wide receiver.
That and Dallas never completely relied on him. Either Dallas had other receivers taking a nice piece of the pie, or the running back had a nice chunk of the touches. Witten was always looked at as the safety net rather than Dez, so that affected too.
Dez’s cabinet isn’t empty, but it’s also not full either. He was able to make the first-team All-Pro once but only made the Pro Bowl three times (although it should have been four times since he got snubbed in 2012).
Bryant also led the league in receiving touchdowns in 2014, the same year as his All-Pro season. He never led the league in receiving yards, but he did place sixth in 2012.