Dez vs Calvin vs AJ

[xwalker]

CZ was full of these kinds of posts last off-season as well.

Best I can tell Dez had the 13th most yards in the NFL despite playing for a team that really didn't have established #2 WR.

He was one of the leading TD scorers, which is a big positive.

I personally don't see Dez having any chance of being #1 -- he is big WR that doesn't have top end speed and because of it takes a lot of big hits.... add to that he refused to go down and he ends up with a fair amount of nagging injuries the most recent of which seems to be his back issues.

IMHO, Megatron is #1 and you can throw Dez in the a general grouping of WRs after Megatron including AJ Green, Demaryous Thomas, and Alshon Jeffrey.

Also keep in mind Megatron didn't lead the league in receiving last year -- Josh Gordon did. If Gordon turns in another season like he did last year you'd probably have to rank him ahead of Dez -- especially considered the putrid set of QBs Cleveland had throwing to him.

Good post.

Have you watched draft prospect Mike Evans and if so how do you think he projects to be in that group in a couple of years?

 

[cboyd]

Megatron>AJ>Dez

I think Dez is creeping up and can eclipse AJ this season but has yet to do so. AJ is a much better deep ball receiver right now.

Dez has already passed AJ. I dont think your hoing to see much deep balls to Dez because Romo is not very good with the deep ball. Another reason why Dez is better than Aj can get the tough yards unlike AJ. AJ is also the focal point in bengals passing.

 

[perrykemp]

Good post.

Have you watched draft prospect Mike Evans and if so how do you think he projects to be in that group in a couple of years?

I was surprised Evans ran a 4.53 at his pro day which is excellent for a guy his size.

Yes, I think he fits the Brandon Marshall / Jeffrey / Dez / Demaryous Thomas / etc mould very well. I suspect he'll be a very good WR by his 2nd season.

 

[xwalker]

I was surprised Evans ran a 4.53 at his pro day which is excellent for a guy his size.

Yes, I think he fits the Brandon Marshall / Jeffrey / Dez / Demaryous Thomas / etc mould very well. I suspect he'll be a very good WR by his 2nd season.

He ran an unofficial 4.47. A few people prefer to go by the unofficial time.

 

[hornitosmonster]

Calvin and it isn't even close. Should we post the youtube of Dez running his mouth and then getting completely owned by Megatron?

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

Dez has already passed AJ. I dont think your hoing to see much deep balls to Dez because Romo is not very good with the deep ball. Another reason why Dez is better than Aj can get the tough yards unlike AJ. AJ is also the focal point in bengals passing.

Your right, AJ is the focal point and people still don't stop him. If your talking jump ball than yeah Dez wins that one. Dez still can get sloppy in his route running and can be inconsistent at times. AJ is still the better option right now.

 

[perrykemp]

Dez has already passed AJ. I dont think your hoing to see much deep balls to Dez because Romo is not very good with the deep ball. Another reason why Dez is better than Aj can get the tough yards unlike AJ. AJ is also the focal point in bengals passing.

I disagree.

At best I see Dez at the same level with AJ, certainly not markedly better.

I find it hard to criticize AJ Green who started out with 1000 yards receiving his rookie year and had done better than that each year after that.

Dez ability to fight for yards is great but it is also one of the reasons his game is affected by nagging injuries. Last year he was caught from behind a lot and was unable to break away from DBs -- largely <I think> to his back.

 

[perrykemp]

He ran an unofficial 4.47. A few people prefer to go by the unofficial time.

Yes, but what does "unofficial time" mean? I've never been able to figure it out.

Sometimes it seems that <someone> with a stopwatch clocked him a a less time than the official, or something like that.

Here is why I don't love the unofficial times -- you only hear about them when they are <less> than the official time. When they are more than the official time, neither the player or the agent seem much interested in highlighting it.

 

[xwalker]

Yes, but what does "unofficial time" mean? I've never been able to figure it out.

Sometimes it seems that <someone> with a stopwatch clocked him a a less time than the official, or something like that.

Here is why I don't love the unofficial times -- you only hear about them when they are <less> than the official time. When they are more than the official time, neither the player or the agent seem much interested in highlighting it.

This is from WalterFootball:

40 Times: For the 40 times, I use both the official times and the NFL Network's unofficial times. I do this because the latter figures are more accurate. NFL teams use their own timed 40s anyway, so the official 40s are mostly meaningless.

I just see it as a 2nd number. If it's better than the official time, then I feel that the player is at least as fast as the official time and it's not a fluke.

 

[fishspill]

This will make me sound like a crazy person to many but I'm starting to come around to thinking CJ is the greatest football player ever. No, I'm not kidding.

Call it premature but I've never seen anything like him.

 

[HappyOnions]

This will make me sound like a crazy person to many but I'm starting to come around to thinking CJ is the greatest football player ever. No, I'm not kidding.

Call it premature but I've never seen anything like him.

 

[Nova]

Dez has already passed AJ. I dont think your hoing to see much deep balls to Dez because Romo is not very good with the deep ball. Another reason why Dez is better than Aj can get the tough yards unlike AJ. AJ is also the focal point in bengals passing.

Aj is still the better route runner, deep threat and has a larger catching radius. 6'4" 35 inch long arms with great body control. Dez wins a jump ball against anyone not named Megatron, but he's not as complete of a receiver as Green. Green is the smoothest route runner in the league at an elite size.

 

[dstovall5]

1. Calvin Johnson

2. A.J. Green
3. Dez Bryant
4. Julio Jones
5. Josh Gordon

6. Demaryius Thomas
7. Alshon Jeffery

8. Andre Johnson
9. Brandon Marshall
10. Antonio Brown

A lot of great WRs in the NFL ...

 

[cboyd]

Aj is still the better route runner, deep threat and has a larger catching radius. 6'4" 35 inch long arms with great body control. Dez wins a jump ball against anyone not named Megatron, but he's not as complete of a receiver as Green. Green is the smoothest route runner in the league at an elite size.

Actually Dez has a bigger verticle jump than AJ. AJ had a 34 1/2 inch and Dez had 38. At 6'2 Dez wt is 222 and at 6'3 Aj is 211. Hand size Dez out does AJ at a small margin Dez is 9 3/4 and AJ is 9 1/4. This is not to say that AJ is a horrible by any imagination. He is tall, a great route runner and has good speed. I mean there is a reason why puts up good numbers. But he is not really a physical reciever in the sense that he is not going to break tackles like Dez. Dez is built to break tackles. Dez can take on those intermediate routes and take it to the house. To me as a complete reciever I would have to give a slight edge to Dez. Yes there are a few things AJ is better at doing than Dez but Dez is to me a more complete Reciever than AJ.

 

[Szczepanik]

I have Dez and AJ at a tie because they are very different style wise.

Agressive and physical nature of Dez is hard to compare to AJ's style of route running. You can't put each other into each other's shoes effectively.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

Actually Dez has a bigger verticle jump than AJ. AJ had a 34 1/2 inch and Dez had 38. At 6'2 Dez wt is 222 and at 6'3 Aj is 211. Hand size Dez out does AJ at a small margin Dez is 9 3/4 and AJ is 9 1/4. This is not to say that AJ is a horrible by any imagination. He is tall, a great route runner and has good speed. I mean there is a reason why puts up good numbers. But he is not really a physical reciever in the sense that he is not going to break tackles like Dez. Dez is built to break tackles. Dez can take on those intermediate routes and take it to the house. To me as a complete reciever I would have to give a slight edge to Dez. Yes there are a few things AJ is better at doing than Dez but Dez is to me a more complete Reciever than AJ.

Dez has 34" arm length while AJ has 34 3/8" as a note.

I'm really not understanding how anyone can say that Dez is the more complete WR. Dez doesn't run as good of routes as AJ. Dez has yet to show he runs the deep route as well as AJ. Last season Dez showed huge strides in knowing the playbook better and being in the right place at the right time. You don't have to worry about that with AJ at all.

 

[Nova]

Actually Dez has a bigger verticle jump than AJ. AJ had a 34 1/2 inch and Dez had 38. At 6'2 Dez wt is 222 and at 6'3 Aj is 211. Hand size Dez out does AJ at a small margin Dez is 9 3/4 and AJ is 9 1/4. This is not to say that AJ is a horrible by any imagination. He is tall, a great route runner and has good speed. I mean there is a reason why puts up good numbers. But he is not really a physical reciever in the sense that he is not going to break tackles like Dez. Dez is built to break tackles. Dez can take on those intermediate routes and take it to the house. To me as a complete reciever I would have to give a slight edge to Dez. Yes there are a few things AJ is better at doing than Dez but Dez is to me a more complete Reciever than AJ.

Of course there are things that Dez does better than Green. Again, Dez would win a jump ball if it were just between the two of them. He's just stronger in the air then just about all WRs except Megatron.

Dez in a goal to go situation is like Shaq in the paint circa 2000. He's just that good.

But Green isn't bad in those situations either. He's probably just behind Dez because of his size, quickness, route running and body control.

All in all, they're pretty close in all categories, but AJ Green pretty easily wins the deep threat department-- he just threatens more of the field because of his route running. That's why he's more polished, refined, and more complete.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

Calvin is the best player right now.

AJ Green has the most long-term value.

 

[TonyRomo17]

dez is a top 10-15 receiver imo, he just disappears way too often

 

[perrykemp]

dez is a top 10-15 receiver imo, he just disappears way too often

Dez's rank last year receiving in the NFL:

Touchdowns: 3rd
Yards: 13th
Receptions: 8th

He is definitely top 10, and IMHO top 5.