Bryant and Owens

[Supercowboy1986]

Before you all get your panties in a bunch this thread is not to argue who is the better player now or by the end of their career. I was talking with a friend about how awesome bryant and romo have been lately and he brought up how awesome Owens and romo were during their tenure as well. Lo and behold when I try to think back to Owens tenure here it's somewhat of a blur for me so I would like to request for some/all of you to remind me. Obviously Owens was a physical freak during his tenure in the NFL similar to bryant but I don't remember what were his strengths and weaknesses were and how he compares to Bryant. Romo had the privilege to throw to both these guys and despite how you feel about Owens off the field, I think it's safe to say he was a stud on the field. As stated previously what are each player's strengths and weaknesss compared to each other (such as athleticism, pass catching, blocking, route running etc) and do not include any off the field stuff, I am strictly referring to each players performance on the field. Thanks in advance and merry Christmas

 

[perrykemp]

Owens was taller, heavier, and faster than Bryant.

Bryant has more wingspan and more hops.

Owens could and did routinely take short passes and take them to the house.

Dez is a better target in the redzone than Owens was and Dez has better hands overall.

As of now I'd say Owens the better more complete player, however, Dez is only in his 5th year so it's really too early to make a judgement call.

 

[Dale]

Owens ran like a deer. Great at yards after the catch, particularly on crossing routes and such. Profilic scorer, although he did it differently than Bryant. Not nearly the jump-ball guy Bryant is.

Owens would regularly get 12-15 targets a game. The offense really ran through him, and he'd let you hear about it if he only got, say, 7 looks.

 

[The Natural]

T.O. was a great blocker, I honestly dont know who I would say is better between he and Dez in that aspect

 

[Jenky]

Owens was taller, heavier, and faster than Bryant.

Bryant has more wingspan and more hops.

Owens could and did routinely take short passes and take them to the house.

Dez is a better target in the redzone than Owens was and Dez has better hands overall.

As of now I'd say Owens the better more complete player, however, Dez is only in his 5th year so it's really too early to make a judgement call.

Dez has superior hands, probably a better blocker, and motivator.

Also, even though Owens was bigger and faster, Dez is probably harder to tackle. I would say Dez is more physical with his stiff arm.

 

[DragonCowboy]

I'd definitely agree that it looks like Dez has better hands. I can think of quite a few important drops TO had. There was one against buffalo 2007 at the end of the gwme. In 2007 against Green Bay he knocked an easy catch up into a defender's hands.

Dez has been making some really difficult catches look easy.

 

[NextGenBoys]

At this point in Dez's career, his 5th season, the only thing I can say TO was better at was top end speed, and acceleration.

I would call them equal in route running, maybe giving TO a slight edge. Dez has drastically improved in that area. I would call them equal as far as strength is concerned, as we all know how much of a beast Dez is.

I would give Dez the edge in just about every "receiving" category. Better hands, better ability at going to pinpoint the ball, better leaping ability, etc.

 

[WV Cowboy]

I wish we had been the team to make it work with Owens, .. but Parcells acted like a big baby about the whole thing.

 

[NextGenBoys]

TO was just a physical specimen, who happened to play receiver. He was big, fast, and strong, allowing him to physicall impose his will over bigger DB's by running right by them, and smaller DB's by over powering them.

Dez is all of that, and has some of the best hands I've ever seen on top of the physical ability.

As someone mentioned, he's also a better teammate and motivator.

 

[rags747]

Dez better at highpointing the ball, just as physical as TO. TO seems to have been the much better deep threat. Romo and TO for that 3 year period lit it up pretty consistently with long bombs. Their TD's were somewhere in the 30's over that 3 yrs period.

 

[Jenky]

At this point in Dez's career, his 5th season, the only thing I can say TO was better at was top end speed, and acceleration.

I would call them equal in route running, maybe giving TO a slight edge. Dez has drastically improved in that area. I would call them equal as far as strength is concerned, as we all know how much of a beast Dez is.

I would give Dez the edge in just about every "receiving" category. Better hands, better ability at going to pinpoint the ball, better leaping ability, etc.

Agreed, and just to add to this, Dez is a better pure pass catcher. He's made numerous jaw dropping acrobatic catches.

 

[Nova]

@perrykemp nails it.

Though as much as I love Dez, he'll likely never catch Owens status-- but that's not bad because Owens is probably top 3 all time.

But to elaborate a bit, Owens did not have the arm length or hand size of Dez. His hands were inconsistent and he wasn't a go up and get it guy... He is extremely inferior to Dez in that regard.

The guy was a burner. If you look up his 40 time, it does not accurately reflect how fast he was.

 

[perrykemp]

At this point in Dez's career, his 5th season, the only thing I can say TO was better at was top end speed, and acceleration.

I would call them equal in route running, maybe giving TO a slight edge. Dez has drastically improved in that area. I would call them equal as far as strength is concerned, as we all know how much of a beast Dez is.

I would give Dez the edge in just about every "receiving" category. Better hands, better ability at going to pinpoint the ball, better leaping ability, etc.

Agree with most of this however I think you are understanding how big a piece YAC is to the success of NFL WRs. This is one area, for whatever reason, Dez is just average. Case in point Dez ranks 33rd in the NFL in YAC this season.

 

[joseephuss]

I wish we had been the team to make it work with Owens, .. but Parcells acted like a big baby about the whole thing.

Parcells only coached Owens one season. Why wasn't Dallas able to make it work with Owens after Parcells left? Perhaps it is because of Owens.

 

[yimyammer]

its funny, all I can remember is endless drama, not because he was constantly trying to stir up **** up but because the media just made a production out of everything with that guy which was only amplified by playing for the Cowboys

hate drama/love football

 

[joseephuss]

@perrykemp nails it.

Though as much as I love Dez, he'll likely never catch Owens status-- but that's not bad because Owens is probably top 3 all time.

But to elaborate a bit, Owens did not have the arm length or hand size of Dez. His hands were inconsistent and he wasn't a go up and get it guy... He is extremely inferior to Dez in that regard.

The guy was a burner. If you look up his 40 time, it does not accurately reflect how fast he was.

Statistically Owens is top 3 all time, but I don't think as a whole he is a top 3 receiver all time. He would still be high on the list, but there are several other receivers I would rank higher than him.

 

[Jenky]

its funny, all I can remember is endless drama, not because he was constantly trying to stir up **** up but because the media just made a production out of everything with that guy which was only amplified by playing for the Cowboys

hate drama/love football

Drama everywhere he went. With Garcia, with McNabb, and even in big D. The bills is where I didn't hear much about him.

 

[TrailBlazer]

Hands-dez
Speed-T.O.
Route running - push
YAC-T.O.
Jump ball-dez
Strength-T.O.
Catch radius - dez
Big play ability- T.O.
TD celebrations-T.O.


As it stands now T.O. was better, but dez isn't done.

 

[Jenky]

Hands-dez
Speed-T.O.
Route running - push
YAC-T.O.
Jump ball-dez
Strength-T.O.
Catch radius - dez
TD celebrations-T.O.


As it stands now T.O. was better, but dez isn't done.

IMO strength should go to Dez. Too many times, I've seen 3-4 players having to gang tackle him. Not to mention, Dez has a mean stiff arm and can make anyone trying to tackle him look foolish.

 

[TheFinisher]

TO came here when he was like 33 years old so he was entering his twilight years, but he was still faster than most players and was extremely football smart in terms of route running and recognizing coverages and knowing how to get himself open.

When he was younger in San Francisco he was unstoppable. Maybe the greatest run after catch receiver ever. He could run wild through a secondary just because of how much bigger faster and stronger he was than DBs.

But Dez is the more natural pass catcher. He's also still very young and the mental part will only continue to improve as he ages.