Dez blasts Press, Earl Thomas runs 4.35, other pro days

[cowboyjoe]

Dez Bryant-WR- Player Mar. 31 - 1:34 pm et


Oklahoma State WR Dez Bryant lashed out at his skeptics to the Associated Press following his Tuesday Pro Day, insisting the criticism "has gone too far" and saying "he ain't never got in trouble with nobody."

Well, this won't help him. "I don't say anything wrong to nobody. I'm friendly. This here is too far," said Bryant. "Even if I did forget my cleats (for the Pro Day), what do that have to do with me playing football? Y'all don't want me to go to the NFL or something? It's going to happen. It is going to happen. God blessed me to have this ability to play this game."
Source: Associated Press


Carlton Mitchell-WR- Player Mar. 31 - 1:25 pm et


South Florida WR Carlton Mitchell ran in the 4.41-4.42 range with the wind and 4.48 against the wind in the forty-yard dash at Tuesday's Pro Day.

According to the NFL Network, though, Mitchell wasn't overly impressive in position drills. Raw coming from an extremely run heavy South Florida offense, Mitchell needs to improve his pass-catching fundamentals and route running.
Source: TFY Draft Insider


George Selvie-DL- Player Mar. 31 - 1:22 pm et


South Florida DE George Selvie ran in the low- to mid-4.9 range at the Bulls' Tuesday Pro Day.

Selvie was unofficially clocked at 4.89 and 4.77 in Indianapolis, so the times don't constitute improvement. He's emerged as a mere late-round prospect.
Source: TFY Draft Insider


Perrish Cox-DB- Player Mar. 31 - 1:20 pm et


Oklahoma State CB Perrish Cox ran forty times of 4.45 with the wind and 4.57 against the wind at his personal Pro Day Tuesday.

He disappointingly ran in the high-4.5s at the Combine. On Tuesday, Cox also had a 4.22-second short shuttle, and reportedly drew high marks for his fitness, excelling in position drills and looking "fluid and effective."
Source: TFY Draft Insider


Jevan Snead-QB- Player Mar. 31 - 1:09 pm et


One veteran NFL scout opined to Profootballtalk.com that the main reason Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead declared for the 2010 NFL Draft is because ESPN's Todd McShay predicted Snead would be a top-five pick.

"The (Snead) family thought McShay knew and everyone else was wrong," the scout said. "(Snead) has problems with game management, accuracy and leadership...but pretty boy Todd thought he was great because of (the Cotton Bowl) a year ago. McShay is a pretty face who comes across like he knows what he is talking about. He does have good presence, but knows nothing."
Source: Profootballtalk on NBC Sports


Brian Price-DL- Player Mar. 31 - 1:03 pm et


UCLA DT Brian Price reportedly looked "sloppy...and a bit out of shape" during position drills at the Bruins' Tuesday Pro Day.

The Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year has not had an outstanding spring, also failing to crack 5.10 in the forty-yard dash at the Combine. Observers reportedly noticed Price's "poor body conditioning" on Tuesday. SI's Tony Pauline still expects Price to be taken somewhere in the first round, likely late.
Source: TFY Draft Insider


Nate Allen-DB- Player Mar. 31 - 12:59 pm et


South Florida S Nate Allen was unable to run the forty-yard dash at the Bulls' Tuesday Pro Day due to a pulled quadriceps muscle.

Allen was also too banged up to do speed and agility drills at the Scouting Combine. Still a late first- to second-round prospect, Allen may set up another Pro Day for a later date, or simply run for teams in individual workouts.


Earl Thomas-DB- Player Mar. 31 - 12:54 pm et


Texas S Earl Thomas reportedly ran a 4.35 forty at the Longhorns' Pro Day on Wednesday.

Thomas ran in the 4.44-4.53 range in Indy, so this is an improvement. ESPN's Todd McShay noted that Thomas "so far has had the biggest day" of any Longhorn. Thomas seems unlikely to fall out of the top-20 picks this April.
Source: TFY Draft Insider

 

[JBS]

Bye bye ET.

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

Bye bye ET.

Good.

And Dez Bryant sounds like an idiot.

 

[5mics]

Bye bye ET.

Yeah.....crud......

 

[JBS]

Good.

And Dez Bryant sounds like an idiot.

He is absolutely an idiot. This is nothing new to me. That doesn't change the fact that he will be a cowboy though. The kid scored a 16 on the wonderlick lol.

 

[Gaede]

Man Dez sounds like Roy Williams, only not nearly as well spoken

 

[InmanRoshi]

Dez Bryant was born to a 16 year old single mother who later went to prison for dealing drugs, and then bounced around from home to home. He was put in special education classes at 16 for a learning disability and worked his butt off to get academically eligible for Div I NCAA.


I'm not sure if I want the Cowboys to draft him, but the only difference between him and Michael Oher is Dez wasn't lucky enough to have a rich family to adopt him, hold his hand to make sure he did everything he was supposed to (in an expensive private school with all the personal tutors money could buy) and pull strings for him. Yet Michael Oher is the feel good story story of the decade that everyone cheers for in an Oscar winning movie.

 

[cowboyjoe]

Dez Bryant: "Whoever passes up on me, it's over with"
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on March 31, 2010 1:47 PM ET
Former Oklahoma State Dez Bryant's Pro Day left him open to some criticism, and the wide receiver has heard enough.


"I'm not the type of person that will try to confront somebody but now I feel like it's gone too far. It's gone too far," Bryant said to The Associated Press. "I haven't did anything wrong to nobody."

Bryant has a point. Most of the character concerns attached to him have been vague. Teams want to know how important football is to him, not if he needed a small army to help him wake up for class.


"Whoever passes up on me, it's over with. I feel like I'm going through the same situation Randy Moss did," he added. "That man had issues and teams were passing up on him, and when he got on that field, he killed them. He murdered them. Look at him today: One of the best players in the NFL."

Detractors may see these comments and say Bryant a loose cannon. I like his confidence.


We praise Peyton Manning for telling the Colts he'd kick their *** for the next 15 years if they passed on him. Bryant essentially just told the league the same thing.


Teams will take a receiver with edge over one that's unsure of his ability. A draft-day fall is only going to motivate Bryant.


Bryant also took umbrage with our report about his missing cleats. He said he had six pairs with him, just not his favorite one. And that it may not have made a difference.


"What do this got to do with me playing football? Even if I did forget my cleats, what do that have to do with me playing football? I don't think it has anything to do with me playing football."

 

[Gaede]

Dez Bryant was born to a 16 year old single mother who later went to prison for dealing drugs, and then bounced around from home to home. He was put in special education classes at 16 and worked his butt off to get academically eligible for Div I NCAA.


I'm not sure if I want the Cowboys to draft him, but the only difference between him and Michael Oher is Dez wasn't lucky enough to have a rich family to adopt him, hold his hand to make sure he did everything he was supposed to (in an expensive private school with all the personal tutors money could buy) and pull strings for him. Yet Michael Oher is the feel good story story of the decade that everyone cheers for in an Oscar winning movie.

Good point. Interesting difference in the way both backgrounds are portrayed. One's a positive 'reclamation story' while the other--more 'gritty', less pretty but no less impressive--is a red flag.

 

[cowboyjoe]

Cowboys Potential Draft Picks: Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State


http://dallascowboystimes.com/

We don't see Dez Bryant as a legitimate option for the Cowboys in this draft. Do you?
Yesterday we detailed why we believe that fans should continue to support wide receiver Roy Williams. He will battle for his job in camp, and during that time we will find out what sort of fight and determination he truly has within him. This season will determine the path of the rest of Williams’ career. Is he a champion? Only time will tell.

Should Williams step up in camp, he will be the Cowboys’ 2010 starting wide receiver opposite Miles Austin. We are so sure of this fact that we have purposely avoided discussing first round receiver Dez Bryant because, well, we just don’t see him as a legitimate option for Dallas. Bryant is simply too talented to fall to the Cowboys’ 27th pick on April 22 (even though we brought up the possibility in a hypothetical scenario).

Further, the Cowboys have so much money tied up in the wide receiver position (we are including Austin’s future deal) that paying another WR big-time money makes little cents (cents. . .get it?).

Dallas is also excited about the future prospects of Kevin Ogletree. The second-year man out of Virginia has turned heads within the organization. Will it be enough to win a starting job in 2010? Drafting Dez Bryant would do nothing less than give Ogletree little opportunity to play for the next five years. Who knows. . .perhaps the answer to the team’s perceived wide receiver woes is already on the roster?

Nonetheless, there are more immediate needs than WR. Yes, we all want Williams to play up to his potential, but we feel fully confident telling you that the Cowboys will not draft a wide receiver in the early rounds of this draft unless he is a dynamic return man, i.e. Cincinnati WR Mardy Gilyard.

Because Dallas is hosting Bryant, though, and because we can all dream, Bryant is the feature in this edition of our Cowboys “Potential Draft Picks” Series.

Scouting Report

Bryant is an absolute beast. There is simply no other way to put it. He is ranked No. 10 in our latest Big Board, and he is only that low due to concerns about his attitude and work ethic.

Bryant is a bit of a mystery to us. He does bone-headed things like show up to his Pro Day with no cleats or (allegedly) arrive late to games. However, one look at the guy lets you know he is a hard-worker. Everybody knows Bryant can play–the question teams must answer will be how much he loves football.

On the field, we are confident in saying Bryant is every bit as talented as Larry Fitzgerald when he left Pitt. That is a gigantic statement, but this kid has gigantic game. His game tape and production are off the charts. He displays top-notch hands and run after the catch ability.

We loved Michael Crabtree coming out of Texas Tech last year, and we will tell you there is really no comparing him to Bryant. Bryant is superior in every aspect of the game–he runs better routes and is even more dangerous once he gets his hands on the ball.

Bryant recorded varying forty times at his Pro Day–from 4.52 (which he ran twice) to 4.68. We are unconcerned about that number. He plays as fast as any receiver in this class and we have yet to see him get caught from behind.

Again, every concern about Bryant is an off-field issue. If he can prove he has the requisite attitude and work ethic to succeed in the NFL, there is simply no way he drops to the Cowboys.

Projection

Bryant could go as high as the top 10 (Buffalo?). Even if some teams are scared off by Bryant’s perceived attitude problem, we just cannot see him dropping passed New England’s 22nd selection.

Would Jerry Jones trade up if Bryant makes his way into the 20’s? Perhaps we will get the opportunity to find out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBO2-do2Vng

 

[CanuckCowboysFan]

Good.

And Dez Bryant sounds like an idiot.

so were Charles Haley and Michael Irvin, that didn't stop Jerry. This guys going to be a Cowboy. I feel it.

 

[garyv]

Roy said he'll teach Dez what he knows about the Receiver Position and how to succeed in the NFL

 

[DFWJC]

Man Dez sounds like Roy Williams, only not nearly as well spoken

That got me to thinking (uh oh). It seems like almost all of the best WRs in history were fairly well spoken. I actually thought of that yesterday when I heard Dez being interviewed.

Moss inteveiws fairly well now (just has a country accent) but he was kind of rough coming out. I think maybe Irvin was too.
But Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Chris Carter, Andre Reed, T Owens, Fitzgerald, Lynn Swann, Lance Alworth, Lofton, Largent, etc, etc.....all pretty decent in front of a mic

 

[cowboyjoe]

Bryant: Pre-draft criticism has `gone too far’
4 hours, 43 minutes ago

Buzz up! 2 PrintBy JEFF LATZKE

AP Sports Writer


EDITOR’S NOTE—This is the second installment of a periodic diary-style story from Dez Bryant that will move in the weeks leading up to the April 22 draft.

Dez Bryant is fed up. With less than a month to go before his football fate will be decided in the NFL draft, Bryant has faced a barrage of criticism from all angles.

ADVERTISEMENT

The latest round came after his workout for NFL scouts Tuesday, his first chance to show whether he’s kept in shape after having his final college season cut short by an NCAA suspension.

Bryant had already endured questions about his integrity, stemming from the fact that he lied to an NCAA investigator about his interaction with former NFL player Deion Sanders in the offseason between his sophomore and junior seasons at Oklahoma State.

He had dealt with questions about his background, being raised by a young mother in Texas.

He had faced rumors that he skipped meetings, classes and was even late for games while at OSU.

And then, of all things, his pro day was spoiled by banter that he’d forgotten to bring the cleats he planned to wear for the workout.

“I’m not the type of person that will try to confront somebody but now I feel like it’s gone too far. It’s gone too far,” Bryant said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I ain’t never got in trouble with nobody. I never said anything. I don’t say anything wrong to nobody. I’m friendly. This here is too far.

“What do this got to do with me playing football? Even if I did forget my cleats, what do that have to do with me playing football? I don’t think it has anything to do with me playing football.”

Bryant questions why he has faced such a flurry of rumors following his college career, which came to an early conclusion just three games into his junior season. He had 87 receptions for 1,480 yards and 19 touchdowns and also returned two punts for scores in 2008.

He was the only 2008 Biletnikoff Award finalist to return to school last season and entered the season as the top receiver in college.

But most of the scrutiny Bryant has been facing has dealt with everything but his playing ability.

“What is this? Y’all don’t want me to go to the NFL or something? It’s going to happen,” Bryant said. “It is going to happen. God blessed me to have this ability to play this game.

“I haven’t did anything wrong to nobody.”

Bryant said he believes he has received more criticism than even players who have had run-ins with the law.

“I don’t look for trouble. I don’t find trouble or none of that stuff. I’m not a troublemaker,” Bryant said. “Just because I’ve experienced bad things, that don’t make me no bad person. That don’t make my mom a bad person. My mom overcame a lot of adversity just as well as I have.

“People change. I don’t think people understand that. People change, and I thought my mama did that. And all this stuff that I’ve been reading, I just feel like it’s foolish. It is foolish.”

Bryant won’t know for sure until the draft begins on April 22 whether NFL teams are questioning his character or believe his side of the story.

“Any teams who don’t draft me who think I have background problems or any of that, you’re not going to draft me because of stuff that happened in my childhood? What about now? What’s been going on with Dez now? Nothing bad’s been going on with Dez. Nothing at all,” Bryant said.

“Whoever passes up on me, it’s over with. I feel like I’m going through the same situation Randy Moss(notes) did,” he added. “That man had issues and teams were passing up on him, and when he got on that field, he killed them. He murdered them. Look at him today: One of the best players in the NFL.”

Until he can prove himself on the field, Bryant can only defend himself with his words.

— He said he brought six pairs of shoes to his pro day-style workout at his high school in Lufkin, Texas, and—regardless of the hubbub around his missing cleats—he was happy with his performance although “in my mind I always feel like there’s room to improve.”

“You know how players have their particular cleats that they want, the ones they are comfortable in? I didn’t have those,” Bryant said. “I’m not saying it would have made any difference. But I’m saying I didn’t have those.”

— He said it was “just not possible” for him to be late for a game while he was at Oklahoma State and takes issue with the suggestion that he’s irresponsible.

“It ain’t about my background. It’s what I’m going to do for the team. It’s what I’m going to bring to your team,” he said. “That’s what it’s about.”

— He even defends his decision to work out with Adam “Pacman” Jones, who was suspended for the entire 2007 season after a series of off-the-field incidents.

“Why down talk the man? The man did everything right. He’s working out. He’s doing good. What happened in the past was the past. That’s just like anybody else. If they did something wrong, they would be looking for a second chance.”

Bryant could use a second chance, too—in the eyes of his critics.

“Whenever somebody gets the wrong impression about somebody—not just me, about anybody—I don’t like that at all because I just feel like that’s not right,” Bryant said. “Especially whenever someone goes and gets some information about this person and then goes to that person, I just feel like that is not right because it’s not right.

“I’ve never spoke my mind. I just sit back and listen. But now I just feel like it just went too far.”

 

[DFWJC]

It is kind of snow balling on Dez. He seems like a bit of head case, but it has to hurt to know you never really did anything outragous, yet people are happy to see you lose millions. You'd have to be very stupid or very naive to think any type of character issues won't be under the microsope these days. And when you get defensive, the rabid dogs will just pile on. He has made his own bed for sure, but it's snowballing now.

If he falls below 12 or so, I'd say his off the field stuff cost him millions. Looks like it could happen.

 

[TheCount]

I'm not sure if I want the Cowboys to draft him, but the only difference between him and Michael Oher is Dez wasn't lucky enough to have a rich family to adopt him, hold his hand to make sure he did everything he was supposed to (in an expensive private school with all the personal tutors money could buy) and pull strings for him. Yet Michael Oher is the feel good story story of the decade that everyone cheers for in an Oscar winning movie.

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Roy said he'll teach Dez what he knows about the Receiver Position and how to succeed in the NFL

I hope it works out as well for Roy as it did for Keyshawn Johnson.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

If those numbers on Thomas are true, he might be the first Safety taken. Interesting.

 

[CATCH17]

Thomas just got himself in the top 13 I think. The team who passes on Thomas for Berry is going to know how we feel for passing on Ed Reed.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

Earl Thomas Earl_Thomas

4.3 - 40 yard dash......thats more like it!!!!!

What a jerk this guy is