Does Dez Bryant remind you of TO...

[Avenger]

Not at all.

 

[Tobal]

TO might be a more gifted athlete, but there was always a mechanical feel to his game. I remember Aikman once talking about how TO made himself into a great player., that he wasn't a natural great receiver.

Dez looks so smooth out there and it looks so easy and natural, He's a gifted WR, and a gifted Athlete. They are both physical beasts and they have similar builds so I can see where at a glimpse they resemble each other, but I don't think their play is that similar.

 

[DallasDomination]

Dez can catch better and is more athletic, maybe stronger than Owens too. The one thing owens has over Dez is Speed, Owens was strong after the catch just like Dez, but Owens was just flat out faster.

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

In the end, Dez Bryant is going to be better than TO. We'll adore him. TO... not so much.

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

The original poster has a point though. They are similar in physique' and style in a few ways.

 

[perrykemp]

In the end, Dez Bryant is going to be better than TO. We'll adore him. TO... not so much.

So you are projecting HoF for DeZ? It's possible.

TO had over 15000 yards and 150 TDs...

 

[Blue Eyed Devil]

Not at all. T.O. played much faster than Dez. Dez is super physical which T.O. was not.

 

[Venger]

On the field - well both are gifted receivers and potential gamechangers.

Off the field - TO has some issues related to mental health, I think Dez just has maturity issues.

I'm happy letting Dez be Dez. On the field...

 

[RoyTheHammer]

In the end, Dez Bryant is going to be better than TO. We'll adore him. TO... not so much.

:laugh2:

He may be.. but he's got a LONG way to go yet.

 

[tecolote]

I don't think they are similar but I certainly hope their careers are.

 

[Section446]

He's got a long way to go before he can be in the same category as T.O. Like him or not, the guy is one of the all-time greats.

 

[Hawk]

When T.O was young, he was an enigma, nobody could stop the guy. More than anything T.O. showed what a monster WRer could do to small CB's.

Comparing Dez right now to Bobby Hayes, or even T.O. to me is a joke...its a long way to the Hall of Fame, and most of you see Dez there already.

We will never ever see the likes of a Bobby Hayes again.

Dez has great leaping ability, but so did Hayes, Gene Washington, Lance Alworth, Paul Warfield...the list is long.

 

[dez_for_prez]

Kinda surprised that Brandon Marshell didn't get meationed yet. I think their games are similar.

 

[ftghb]

such a travesty that so many people are underrating TO. I've followed him since his 49er days, the only thing that dez has on TO is that he is a better jump ball receiver. Other than that, TO was a MUCH better route runner, so incredibly fluid for a such a big bodied receiver to come in and out of his breaks like that. If you guys have trouble remembering, there was that one play in the super bowl when TO shook off asante samuel on an inbreaking route before breaking it the other way for 30+ yards. (he had 9 catches for 122 yards on a broken ankle). Owens also was the monster of YAC in his prime, always knew how to use his blocks downfield and what angles to take in order to gain the max yards possible. Owens was a better pass catcher over the middle of the field, whereas dez bryant works better on the boundaries.

Not to mention, Owens was a much, much smarter football player. Dez Bryant has all the potential in the world to be a great receiver, but he needs to prove consistently he has it in between the ears first.

 

[Hoofbite]

No, I don't see it.

T.O. was faster. Dez has much better hands. T.O.'s game was more about the crossing route and some drags and slants. Then when the corner pressed, he could get by him and beat him deep. And when T.O. got the ball he usually ran away from guys more than broke tackles (although he could break tackles well).

Dez has good speed and terrific hands. Catches the ball extremely well in closed quarters. Maybe even better than Randy Moss in closed quarters (Dez always fights for a ball). And he's probably the most vicious WR I've ever seen run with the ball.

I think T.O. intimidated defenders with his speed first and his power second. I think Dez intimidates defenders with his power first and his speed second.

I think Dez is much better against double teams. T.O. usually had to be moved around away from a double team by motioning him until they got the coverage they wanted. If they couldn't do that, then they would have him run slants, drags and crossing patterns. With Dez, he can beat double teams quite often deep. He'll beat the corner and then put Romo in position to fake out the safety. Very tough to do consistently.

I think this again has to do with Dez's power. If they can't quite beat the double team, you can still throw it for grabs and give it to Dez.

I know this sounds too obvious, but he really reminds me more of Michael Irvin than anybody.

YR

I approve this post.

 

[DanTanna]

TO had an uncanny ability to get 5 yards past the deepest defender. I don't know how he did it, but you would see Romo launch a bomb and sure enough, when TO came on the screen he'd be 5 yards past the defender WIDE OPEN. He did this time and time again! How the he!! did he do that? And yes he had stone hands sometimes - he did not have naturally soft hands. Speed, size and ultimate competitiveness.

Dez is strong, super soft hands, and good deceptive speed for his size IMO. When he was hurt he cut off a few routes that caused interceptions, but I think he's grown away from that. I would rather have Dez than TO in their primes.

 

[DejectedFan1996]

such a travesty that so many people are underrating TO. I've followed him since his 49er days, the only thing that dez has on TO is that he is a better jump ball receiver. Other than that, TO was a MUCH better route runner, so incredibly fluid for a such a big bodied receiver to come in and out of his breaks like that. If you guys have trouble remembering, there was that one play in the super bowl when TO shook off asante samuel on an inbreaking route before breaking it the other way for 30+ yards. (he had 9 catches for 122 yards on a broken ankle). Owens also was the monster of YAC in his prime, always knew how to use his blocks downfield and what angles to take in order to gain the max yards possible. Owens was a better pass catcher over the middle of the field, whereas dez bryant works better on the boundaries.

Not to mention, Owens was a much, much smarter football player. Dez Bryant has all the potential in the world to be a great receiver, but he needs to prove consistently he has it in between the ears first.

This is extremely common on this forum, especially in regards to former Cowboy players. Like you, I have followed him since his 49er days as well mostly due to my brother being a die hard 49ers fan. People that know me will tell you how I lose my voice everytime Dez scores and that I have a mancrush for him. But even I can tell you he has a long way to go before he can even fathom being in the same class as T.O.

 

[khiladi]

Dez seems to be able to wing it better than TO, plus his hands are better... TO is great in motion and getting the ball quickly and taking it to the house. Haven't seen it yet with Dez, but I blame the system more than anything else.

 

[LatinMind]

Very productive but also a head case. Depsite his talent teams would grow tired of him and his action. Says a lot when teams will avoid a player of his talent because of the problems he brings with him.

No doubt Million dollar talent with a 10 cent brain.

Dallas and Jerry was at the verge of being there with Dez. Im glad he pulled his out of his rear end as of now. Seems like Dez is dedicated to his church now. He's always posting scriptures instead of nonsense he used to.

But physically Dez and TO are very similar. Their games are similar in some ways and different in others. Both seem to get testy when the ball isnt thrown to them tho. Both are extremely dedicated to winning.

 

[Doomsday101]

Dallas and Jerry was at the verge of being there with Dez. Im glad he pulled his out of his rear end as of now. Seems like Dez is dedicated to his church now. He's always posting scriptures instead of nonsense he used to.

But physically Dez and TO are very similar. Their games are similar in some ways and different in others. Both seem to get testy when the ball isnt thrown to them tho. Both are extremely dedicated to winning.

Dez reminds me more of Irvin than he does TO. But that is just me.

I don't see Dez issues the same as TO. TO never learned to drop issues he continued to pour gas on the fire instead of keeping his mouth shut to the media about in house matters. Dez clearly has shown immaturity but his behavior is nothing like what I saw with TO though out his career and a reason no team stuck with him despite his talent.