Dez is a good player but he's not one of the best of all time

[Roadtrip635]

The WR I think that is most similar to Dez is Andre Johnson. AJ is a better route runner and was faster in his prime, but I think the rest of his game closely matches Dez. Both big, strong, physical gifted receivers, both can make the toughest jaw dropping catches, but will occasionally blow the easy one. Neither shy away from contact and will lay some hits on DB's AJ has had a great career, but imagine if he hadn't been drafted to an expansion team and had Carr as his QB the first few years and had Romo instead.

 

[cowboys1981]

Jerry Rice who?

 

[Red Dragon]

I agree that Dez isn't one of the greatest all time, but I don't think he needs to be. He's being the playmaking, dynamic wide receiver he's supposed to be. It's okay if he's no Irvin or Megatron.

 

[dukecityspecialist]

DEz is a beast. He will get better. Not even close to being the greatest but his story hasnt been completely written. Not even done with the 1st chapter yet lol. Skys the limit tho

 

[Dodger12]

TDez is still a developing player and only time will tell if he will impact the Cowboys the same way Hayes, Pearson and Irvin did.

I get a kick when some people here are coming at you like you're propping up some player(s) from another team. The reality is that many of these folks have never seen Irvin play, let along Pearson or Hayes. These players played in a different era as opposed to today's stat padding game where every hand check, touch and physical play by a DB is a PI call.

Dez is a great talent but there is no way, no how he "impacts" the game as much as Hayes, Irvin or Pearson did. Can he get there? Absolutely. But to compare him to two guys who are in the HOF and one guy that should be there is ridiculous. Also, the fact that Irvin's numbers are comparable to Dez's stats at this point in their respective careers is the most telling for me considering the era Irvin played in and the much more physical nature of the game back then. It's just another measure of how great a receiver he was.

 

[starfrombirth]

I still think Moss was the most physically gifted, and there are 2 other guys in the league right now who I'd say are more physically gifted than Dez. (Johnson, Julio)

But he's certainly the most physically gifted WR the Cowboys have had. Bar none.

That's a huge disrespect to Bob Hayes.

 

[Sampson]

Dez is the type of WR that makes the other WRs better because he draws so much coverage. You can save on the other guys, they are much easier to find and replace. I would rather go with 12m to Dez, 1m to TWill, 500k to Beasely and Harris than have 4- 3m dollar, average guys.

They wont be able to keep any of those guys for those numbers when contract renewal comes up. Heck league minimum for a 3rd year player is over 500K

 

[KJJ]

I get a kick when some people here are coming at you like you're propping up some player(s) from another team. The reality is that many of these folks have never seen Irvin play, let along Pearson or Hayes. These players played in a different era as opposed to today's stat padding game where every hand check, touch and physical play by a DB is a PI call.

Dez is a great talent but there is no way, no how he "impacts" the game as much as Hayes, Irvin or Pearson did. Can he get there? Absolutely. But to compare him to two guys who are in the HOF and one guy that should be there is ridiculous. Also, the fact that Irvin's numbers are comparable to Dez's stats at this point in their respective careers is the most telling for me considering the era Irvin played in and the much more physical nature of the game back then. It's just another measure of how great a receiver he was.

A lot of FANS live in the here and the now while others weren't following the Cowboys when Hayes, Pearson and Irvin played and don't have many receivers they watched to compare Dez to. These FANS see the game as it is today and don't realize how much it's changed over the years. You can't just look at stats when comparing QB's and receivers from different era's it's misleading because it's such a pass happy league today compared to years ago. Bob Hayes had a 1200 + yard receiving season in 1966 with 13 TD catches in only a 14 game season. He averaged over 19 yards a catch that year. That would be a pretty impressive season in todays game. Drew Pearson didn't produce big numbers but he produced a lot of big catches in some big games. Drew Pearson was the original #88 and it's because of the impact he made during the 70's that Irvin and Dez are wearing that number.

Irvin spent his first 2 seasons on Cowboy teams that were the worst in the NFL winning only 4 games from 1988 to 89. He missed 10 games in 89 with an ACL injury which he had to battle back from. In 1991 Irvin produced 93 catches for 1523 yards and 8 TD's and accomplished that with a QB in Troy Aikman who only passed for 2754 yards and 11 TD's. In 1995 Irvin had his best season catching 111 passes for 1603 yards and 10 TD's and accomplished that with Aikman only passing for 3304 yards and 16 TD's. Irvin was putting up these yards in a run first offense that was being led by a back in Emmitt Smith who was on his way to becoming the all-time leading rushing. Dez is playing in a pass happy league with a pass happy QB in Romo who's breaking every Cowboys passing record and still hasn't had the seasons Irvin was having 2 decades ago.

Last season Dez produced 92 catches for 1382 yards and 12 TD's and accomplished that with a QB in Romo who passed for a franchise record 4903 yards. That's almost 1500 yards more than Aikman ever threw for in a season. Dez has the potential to be better than any receiver in Cowboys history but he has a long way to go. He has yet to make his first pro bowl and is rated behind several receivers in todays game. Although he's been a productive receiver for the Cowboys his first 4 seasons he hasn't come close to making the impact that Hayes, Pearson and Irvin made. The FANS on this board who are already anointing Dez as the greatest receiver in franchise history have exposed themselves as typical armchair FANS who don't know anything about football or the history of the Dallas Cowboys.

 

[Nightman]

They wont be able to keep any of those guys for those numbers when contract renewal comes up. Heck league minimum for a 3rd year player is over 500K

I'm saying those type of guys. They are much easier to find than #1 WRs.

 

[Doomsay]

Dez's time isn't over yet, he well might be.

 

[Verdict]

Who are you?

Who cares what you think?

That seems a bit childish.

 

[Ender]

I think that Dez is a great weapon for the Cowboys and I am glad that we have him on our team at this point. However, many posters seem to be lauding him as one of the best receivers of all time. I don't see how a person could say that at this time, although he does seem to be getting better the longer he is in the league.

I am looking for objective discussion about where he ranks as a Cowboys receiver, all time. Personally I can think of several players who are arguably better than him which would likely include Michael Irvin, Drew Pearson and Bullet Bob Hayes. I am sure there are several others that we could throw in there as well. Thoughts?

huh? hes 24 and in his 4rth season? who says hes one of the greatest of all time?

 

[Verdict]

What WR is the best ever after 4 seasons?

He's the most gifted WR the Cowboys have ever had. He's got a loooooong way to go to ever be the player Michael Irvin was.

Physically gifted? Likely so. But gifted encompasses more than that. There is also a mental side of that (learning the game and route tree) and playing personality also factors into that. Michael Irvin was a fiery type of player, but usually that was mostly directed in a positive direction. T.O. was also fiery, but in a much more destructive way. Up through the present time, Dez probably fits in somewhere in between, but a bit more to the T.O. side so far.