Bengals Draft Depot

Dez Bryant is a top 5 talent in this draft, however some character concerns have been raised and his draft stock has been slipping. On the Bengals Draft Depot Mock Draft he falls to the Dallas Cowboys. But if he ends up falling will the Bengals pass on him? There would be a strong argument to take Dez, obviously the talent would be well worth the 21st pick. There is more to it than that though, after this season Chad only has 1 year left on his contract and that is a club option. The Bengals may have to start preparing for the post Chad era. Also Antonio Bryant is not a sure thing at number 2 WR. He has been inconsistent and injury plagued throughout his career. I want the Bengals to wait for a 1st round WR until next year where there is an abundance of elite WR talent, but if they pick around the same spot is there gonna be anyone there that is as good as Dez Bryant, it's doubtful.

The scouting report on Dez is right now he says he's 6-2, 220 lbs. He likes to play between 210-215 and that's pretty good size for a WR. He has great hands rarely dropping any passes that he can get to. He is very good getting off the line and has good quickness. He has a good vertical and can go up and get the ball in jump ball situations, making him a huge threat in the Red Zone. He runs hard aggresive routes and gets good seperation. He's very good using the double move to get open. He has excellent ball skills and can take it to the house after the catch. He is a return man so his ball skills have to be good to continue returning. Providing that versatility will make him even more valuable to teams.

Some negatives on Bryant are he doesn't have great straight line speed. He needs to eat up cushions a little faster but with his ablility to run underneath routes he should make defenders come up to guard him. There are reports he has a prima donna attitude, Bengals fans are very experienced with this as is their QB. His character does raise some concerns as he was suspended by the NCAA for lying about hanging out with Deion Sanders. These character concerns aren't terrible and if a team needs a WR bad they should definitely not be enough to deter that team.

Overall I'd still rather the Bengals take Thomas over Bryant if both are available. The character concerns are the deciding factor as I consider both players talent levels to be very close. If Thomas is gone and Bryant is available he'd be my next choice. If the Bengals do end up taking him I don't think many could get too upset, he'd fit the BPA montra and he'd be a steal getting a top 5 talent with the 21st pick.