Dez Bryant ranked as 15th best player in NFL Top 100

[Frozen700]

I would take 2014 Dez over 2014 CJ, 2015 has yet to be written but Dez has less miles so there's that...

Can't argue that point

 

[Frozen700]

Well, Dez has certainly been better than Calvin Johnson over the same time span of their careers.

Through five seasons in the NFL:

Catches:
Dez - 381
CJ - 366

Yards:
Dez - 5,424
CJ - 5,852

Touchdowns:
Dez - 56
CJ - 49

Team pass attempts:
Cowboys - 2,835
CJ - 3,275

So Dez was more productive over his first five seasons in the NFL, all while the Cowboys passing less than the Lions during that time frame. Clearly Dez has had a better QB passing to him, but the fact that the Lions passed for nearly 500 more attempts (which is an entire season's worth of passes) during that time should outweigh the difference between QB play.

Well CJ has been injured some, and you can't deny, stats aside, I don't think there is another player playing today, that can consistently go up between 2 guys and bring the ball down like CJ can. He also has shown to do it on 3 guys. Last person to do that was Moss.

I hear where you are coming from though.

 

[DallasEast]

I believe statistics are very relevant in football discussion but this is a thread about a player ranking where the voters did not give stats any consideration whatsoever. Nothing. Nada. Zlitch. Again, the NFL Top 100 is a glorified popularity contest based on a flawed balloting system. It's designed to generate discussion based on controversial results.

Dez Bryant is a top NFL receiver. His numbers and production prove his status as a top NFL receiver. The NFL Top 100 lists do not further prove that fact or lessen the fact. The same goes for all worthy players whether they are on a particular list or not. They are simply lists made up of feel good opinions that attract viewers to NFL Network and NFL.com.

 

[dstew60105]

Just an FYI -- Dez Bryant had 16 touchdowns in 2014. Julio Jones has had 18 touchdowns IN HIS LAST THREE SEASONS.

To be fair, didn't Jones miss some time in 2013? That being said, I'd still take Dez without question.

 

[sureletsrace]

This I agree with.

Far better.

For those saying they wold take him over CJ though, that is the homer talking.

If the league redrafted, Julio wouldn't go before Dez. No way, no how.

I'd like to see the breakdowns of which players they ask, who answers, etc. It might shed some light on these rankings.

 

[theogt]

Well CJ has been injured some, and you can't deny, stats aside, I don't think there is another player playing today, that can consistently go up between 2 guys and bring the ball down like CJ can. He also has shown to do it on 3 guys. Last person to do that was Moss.

I hear where you are coming from though.

Calvin Johnson only missed 4 games in his first 5 seasons. Dez Bryant missed 3 games in his first 5 seasons.

 

[perrykemp]

I suppose. It's certainly going to make his catch total and catch rate go up significantly, but it's also why his per target yards and touchdown stats are worse than Dez. In the end, I think if Brown was targeted the same amount of times as Dez no one would really be questioning who the better receiver is, but the Steelers passed a whole heckuva lot more than Dallas in 2014 (136 more passes) so clearly Brown's # of targets is going to be much higher. From a production per play standpoint, it's clear Dez is the better receiver.

I posted this a while back here:

Yard per target:
Brown - 9.4
Bryant - 9.7

TDs per target:
Brown - .072
Bryant - .118

Catches per Target:
Brown - 71.3%
Bryant - 64.7%

% of Team Targets:
Brown - 29.6%
Bryant - 28.6%

Team Pass Attempts:
Steelers - 612
Cowboys - 476

Team Pass/Run Ratio:
Steelers - 59/41
Cowboys - 48/52

If you assume (i) Dallas passed the same number of times as Pittsburgh, (ii) the percentage of team targets does not change and (iii) the catches per target, yards per target and TDs per target ratios do not change, Dez's numbers compared to Brown's would look like this:

Targets:
Brown - 181
Bryant - 175

Catches:
Brown - 129
Bryant - 113

Yards:
Brown - 1698
Bryant - 1699

Touchdowns:
Brown - 13
Bryant - 21

If you really look at it, Jordy Nelson statistics probably match up most favorably to Dez over the past couple of years:

Nelson leads Dez in the following categories in the past two seasons:

• Receptions (183 vs 181)
• Yards (2833 vs 2533)
• Yards per reception (15.5 vs 14.0)

Dez leads in TDs (29 vs 21)

Nelson leads in 3 out of those 4 categories despite the fact that he is targeted less than Dez (Nelson: 277 targets vs Dez's 298) and the fact the Nelson suffered through 8 of the past 32 games with Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien, and Matt Flynn throwing him the ball.

My point isn't that Nelson isn't a better WR than Dez because I don't believe that, however, it does go to show that statistics themselves can't be used final arbiter.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Dez came as the 15th best player overall in the NFL Top 100 2015 Poll.

You can view the view the video here:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-top100-2015/0ap3000000499579/Top-100-Players-of-2015-No-15-Dez-Bryant

For WRs I think that means they have Dez ranked as the #3 WR behind Megatron and Antonio Brown (who haven't been part of the announced players 12 through 100 so he must be Top 11).

They have him ahead of Jordy Nelson (ranked as 18th best player in the NFL) and Demaryius Thomas (ranked as 20th best player in the NFL).

Personally I'd put Dez ahead of Megatron based on last year's performance. I can't quibble a ton about Antonio Brown (although I think Dez is better) because his production is other-worldly.

I am bit surprised the Jordy Nelson was ranked as one of the top 20 players in the NFL. I'd put Demaryius Thomas ahead of him by a hair.

hand over tht mon-ay, Jerra!

 

[erod]

He's just a receiver.

I'd have a top ten with nothing but quarterbacks, pass rushers, and left tackles.

 

[perrykemp]

He's just a receiver.

I'd have a top ten with nothing but quarterbacks, pass rushers, and left tackles.

Very valid argument.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Over the last three seasons:

Yards:
Dez - 3,935
Jones - 3,371

Catches:
Dez - 273
Jones - 224

Touchdowns:
Dez - 41
Jones - 18

Jones didn't play one of those years though

 

[theogt]

My point isn't that Nelson isn't a better WR than Dez because I don't believe that, however, it does go to show that statistics themselves can't be used final arbiter.

Nelson is certainly one of the most underrated players in the league. You can easily argue he's a top 5 receiver -- particularly if you just look at the last 2 years. But he spent too many years as a #2 or #3 receiver to get the recognition he deserves, and his play isn't as eye popping as Dez or Calvin Johnson.

 

[theogt]

Jones didn't play one of those years though

He played in all 3 years, but missed a lot of time in 2013. But missing time doesn't help in an argument of being a better player.

 

[erod]

So Zack Martin didn't make this list? Wow.

 

[Frozen700]

Calvin Johnson only missed 4 games in his first 5 seasons. Dez Bryant missed 3 games in his first 5 seasons.

This is true, but if you watched the games some of them he was a pure decoy, trying to play through the injury, then would miss the next game

 

[theogt]

This is true, but if you watched the games some of them he was a pure decoy, trying to play through the injury, then would miss the next game

I'm sure it's possible to construct various arguments as to why Calvin Johnson hasn't been as productive as Dez Bryant, but the fact remains that Dez has been better at, you know, actually catching the ball, gaining yardage and scoring touchdowns.

 

[Vinnie2u]

Funny how The Whole League is waiting for DEZ to set the market on WR's.. Everyone else will fall behind..

 

[TellerMorrow34]

It actually is.

CJ is miles ahead of everyone. It's like me saying James Harden is better than Jordan when he was playing. Harden is great, but come on.

CJ is the Jordan of WR's right now. So yes it is Homer talk.

Okay man.

We don't agree. We're not going to agree. It's all good.

 

[Section446]

So Zack Martin didn't make this list? Wow.

Seriously? Maybe it's because he's a rookie? All bias aside, after about game 5, there might not have been a better OG in the league.

 

[perrykemp]

I'm sure it's possible to construct various arguments as to why Calvin Johnson hasn't been as productive as Dez Bryant, but the fact remains that Dez has been better at, you know, actually catching the ball, gaining yardage and scoring touchdowns.

I agree with your general line of reasoning of Theogt, however, we are only left to speculate how playing for those terrible teams (including the 0-16 team) in Johnson's early years, while catching passes from NFL luminaries like Dan Orvlosky, Daunte Culpepper (who was a shell of his Vikings days), Drew Stanton, and Shaun Hill, affected his numbers.