I think Cowboy fans take things for granted

[northerncowboynation]

I'm not talking about Prescott either. We went from a very good receiver in Dez Bryant to an even better, yes I said better, in Amari Cooper. Just wanted to post a thread about how much I appreciate Jones and Company for getting Cooper and how nice it is to see a great route runner perform. I loved Dez but I like Amari even better. He just seems more polished, for lack of a better word.

I just wanted to share my thoughts on this because the board seems to be so involved in Dak getting his money and the draft and all that it forgot about how lucky we are to have #19......Oh, I didn't compare 19 vs 88 statistically....don't need to. I'd take Cooper over prime Dez.........

First, never start a thread with the word Prescott in the first sentence, if the intention is to make it a non-Prescott topic. Yes, Cowboy fans believe they deserve because they have a silver spoon and 5 trophies. Yes the front office is doing a solid job recently. Yes the Jones' are a lighting rod as well as Prescott and JG. The Cowboys relationship with the fans is the ultimate love/hate relationship. Unlike any other in sports that I know of.

 

[northerncowboynation]

As far as Dez, I hope he can come back and play at a decent level, but I think his attitude is attached to his ankle and foot and neither will completely change

 

[ClappingCarrot]

You people are so quick to turn on Dez, man.

I love Amari. Dude saved our season last year, is an elite route runner, and is an anti-diva WR. But are we forgetting that Dez has 73 touchdowns with a Star on his helmet? Dez in his prime was a force in this league. Amari hasn't proved that yet.

 

[Diehardblues]

Dez despite his personality flaws ( which I bashed him for after each incident from slapping his mother to walking off the field) and techniques was a freakish talent who with a prolific passer was a Pro Bowl receiver.

He’s the Cowboys all time TD leader and if he’d stayed on pace probably to be one of the most productive receivers in Cowboys history .

 

[OmerV]

It's fantastic when you can execute it in the high 60s no matter how the defender plays it. But it doesn't take too much of a drop in efficiency for it to be a loser.

How many QB-WR pairs have ever performed it as effectively as Romo and Dez in 2013, 2014? Romo and Dez were at their best, and that was probably what Dez was the best at.

Can anyone think of a QB/WR duo who worked those goal line jump balls like Romo and Dez. I can think of some who might have been able to, but I can't really recall anyone doing it as much.

Dez didn’t have a high 60s completion percentage even inclusive of short passes, much less solely on jump ball passes. And the reality is the jump ball passes didn’t occur as frequently as some think - people just perceive that because the play stands out in their minds when it works. The fact is, the jump ball passes are a nice added element, but not something that works as a consistent weapon. There is no substitute for actually getting open.

 

[DFWJC]

How quickly people forget...I love AC and he's still young but the man's best season of his career was well below what Dez was able to produce from 2012-2014

Can't be dismissing production for potential

Not starting a QB debate thread, but the QB throwing to Dez was entirely different. Cooper would've had insane numbers with that QB not be mentioned. And btw, I think Coop should have great numbers with current guy too....just not at that level.

 

[mattjames2010]

Dez disappeared quite a bit too and became easy for one man to cover. You won't catch a DC trying to cover Cooper with one man. I'm not meaning to take sides either way, and I do agree that we need to see Cooper have another "consistent" season. That's also going to be up to our new OC to create mismatches and make teams pay for doubling Cooper. Lord knows our old OC couldn't do it...

Dez was always consistent in the red zone and getting us TDs. Cooper will NEVER be this guy, I will bank on this - he will have to be consistent elsewhere on the field. He's not a jump ball receiver.

 

[mattjames2010]

No WR is going to put up those numbers every game. You can find the same types of games from Julio Jones in that 2016 season they had. He'd have some monster games and in between we'd see, 2-29, 1-16, 3-29, 4-36. There are multiple factors that determine how successful a WR is in any given game. His talent is just one of them. That said, I haven't crowned him yet. But I don't think Dallas goes 10-6 without him.

I am not asking him to put up those numbers every week, the problem is 5 of his 6 TDs came in 2 games and he went from having a 180 and 200 yard game to having game after game under 40 yards receiving.

Is it too much to ask for your receiver to consistently get you TDs and maybe...70 yards? That would be an improvement. And yeah, I've criticized Julio Jones on here for having big games and disappearing...and not being great in the red zone.

And even with that, Cooper is no Julio Jones.

 

[MWH1967]

All that matters is what Cooper did for us lately which was significant. Just as what dez did for us lately was insignificant. Nothing else matters.

That's fair but, His best years should be in front of him not behind. That's the exciting part.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Dez didn’t have a high 60s completion percentage even inclusive of short passes, much less solely on jump ball passes. And the reality is the jump ball passes didn’t occur as frequently as some think - people just perceive that because the play stands out in their minds when it works. The fact is, the jump ball passes are a nice added element, but not something that works as a consistent weapon. There is no substitute for actually getting open.

In 2013, Romo and Dez were about 2/3 efficient in the Red Zone and within the opponent's 10.

That's where the magic came in. In the most crowded part of the field, it *was* a substitute for getting open.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/pi/share/xGUXf

Tony was better targeting Dez in the Red Zone and 1-10 than the rest of the team. Here are his total numbers, which are worse than Dez's alone.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/pi/share/Y4W8q

Within the 10

Total_____________25 of 41, 61% 18 TDs
Targeting Dez_____11 of 16, 69% 9 TDs
Not Targeting Dez_14 of 25, 56% 9 TDs

 

[Proof]

Not starting a QB debate thread, but the QB throwing to Dez was entirely different. Cooper would've had insane numbers with that QB not be mentioned. And btw, I think Coop should have great numbers with current guy too....just not at that level.

TO is a hall of famer. His numbers with Romo were comparable to Dez.

 

[JoeKing]

I know you mean this negatively but it’s still true. His career does speak for itself and needs no defending. Storied franchise record holder

I didn't mean it good or bad. Dez's record is what it is.

 

[OmerV]

In 2013, Romo and Dez were about 2/3 efficient in the Red Zone and within the opponent's 10.
Within the 10, 11 of 16, 9 TDs.

That's where the magic came in. In the most crowded part of the field, it *was* a substitute for getting open.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/pi/share/xGUXf

And that is great, but (A) not all were jump ball situations - most probably were not, and (B) that was 16 passes in a year where Dez was targeted 159 times - so 10% of his targets for the year - and (C) that was one year out of Dez’s 8 in Dallas. The jump ball is not and cannot be the primary skill for a receiver over and above the ability to get open. Actually being open will always provide a better opportunity for success than having to out jump and out duel and out muscle a defender.

 

[DFWJC]

TO is a hall of famer. His numbers with Romo were comparable to Dez.

You misunderstood what I was saying. No big deal

But on a side note since you mentioned TO.
TO was WAY past his prime by the time he came to Dallas in his 11th NFL season. We had him in seasons 11, 12, 13.
No telling how crazy-good he would've been if we had him 4-5 years earlier.
I mean, take Dez for example. He's played 8 years in the league total.

 

[kskboys]

This is silly. You can like Cooper, but it's odd to choose him over a prime Dez - "Prime Dez" never led the league in drops twice at a near historic rate. I think I'll wait for him to have a full season without inconsistency before I celebrate the trade, which I still find to be desperate.

And Cooper had a 200 yards, 3 TD, and a 180 yard and 2 TD game - but he also had 4 games where he had under 40 years receiving and averaged around 9 yards a catch.

Cooper is probably the quickest I've seen a player get anointed around here in a long time.

"Prime Cooper" never jogged his routes!!!!!!!!

 

[Jake]

You people are so quick to turn on Dez, man.

I love Amari. Dude saved our season last year, is an elite route runner, and is an anti-diva WR. But are we forgetting that Dez has 73 touchdowns with a Star on his helmet? Dez in his prime was a force in this league. Amari hasn't proved that yet.

I like Dez and Amari. I don't think I have to hate one to like the other.

Dez was great in his prime, but he burned his bridge on the way out of town. If he still wants to play I wish him well...elsewhere. Amari is our man going forward.

 

[buybuydandavis]

And that is great, but (A) not all were jump ball situations - most probably were not, and (B) that was 16 passes in a year where Dez was targeted 159 times - so 10% of his targets for the year - and (C) that was one year out of Dez’s 8 in Dallas. The jump ball is not and cannot be the primary skill for a receiver over and above the ability to get open. Actually being open will always provide a better opportunity for success than having to out jump and out duel and out muscle a defender.

The jump ball guy had significantly better stats than the rest of the team inside the 10. Tony and Dez were making it work.

It's crowded in the red zone. Hard to get open. That's where the muscle matters.

It's too bad Rico never got a shot playing with Tony. Reportedly they were unstoppable on the Scout team.

 

[ksadler1]

Dez was always consistent in the red zone and getting us TDs. Cooper will NEVER be this guy, I will bank on this - he will have to be consistent elsewhere on the field. He's not a jump ball receiver.

Dez got lazy. I began to question his will to play football. He ran sloppy routes, catchable balls were bouncing off his hands, and his jump ball skills became a "turn and look for a flag" excuse for not trying. I honestly think Dez never believed the Cowboys would release him and didn't give 100% because of it. He didn't know what he had until it was gone...

 

[CouchCoach]

This is silly. You can like Cooper, but it's odd to choose him over a prime Dez - "Prime Dez" never led the league in drops twice at a near historic rate. I think I'll wait for him to have a full season without inconsistency before I celebrate the trade, which I still find to be desperate.

And Cooper had a 200 yards, 3 TD, and a 180 yard and 2 TD game - but he also had 4 games where he had under 40 years receiving and averaged around 9 yards a catch.

Cooper is probably the quickest I've seen a player get anointed around here in a long time.

LMAO, matt, the team went form 3-5 to 7-1 and the QB improved quite a bit, why wouldn't he get anointed after that?

I agree, it is too early to anoint any player that's only played 10 games as a Cowboy but I would take Cooper over Bryant any day and every day, especially for this QB that is not proficient at throwing receivers open and doesn't like the jump ball and if I were a QB, I wouldn't like it either.

 

[CouchCoach]

Dez got lazy. I began to question his will to play football. He ran sloppy routes, catchable balls were bouncing off his hands, and his jump ball skills became a "turn and look for a flag" excuse for not trying. I honestly think Dez never believed the Cowboys would release him and didn't give 100% because of it. He didn't know what he had until it was gone...

He knew he had that contract.