Considering they both played at Oklahoma State, are wide receivers, and dominated the game of college football, comparisons between Dez Bryant and Justin Blackmon are unavoidable. The Cowboys selected Bryant with the 24th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft and Blackmon is sure to go in the first round this April — likely somewhere close to the top-10. While most of the comparisons between the two have come in the form of flattery, Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon offered an opinion on Thursday that was a bit more offensive if you’re Bryant.
“(Justin Blackmon is) a beast, isn’t he?” Moon said during an interview with 710 ESPN Radio in Seattle. “He’s like Dez Bryant with all his brain cells. He’s a guy that has all those skills that Dez Bryant has but he’s not the knucklehead that Dez Bryant has turned out to be with Dallas. Hes a much better route-runner than Dez Bryant and a very tremendous talent.”
Is there room for Bryant to improve? Plenty. Have there been questions about his motivation and level of focus? Quite a few. That being said, Bryant caught 63 passes for 928 yards and 9 touchdowns this season for the Cowboys. He has been known to shut it down when things aren’t going well, but he still managed to haul in 15 touchdowns in two seasons and is only 23 years old.
Bryant has not yet played like the No. 1 receiver Dallas drafted him to be, but there is still plenty of time for him to emerge as that guy. We know Moon has a bias against wide receivers based on some of the comments he’s made in the past, so it makes sense that he would be quick to judge Dez. At this point it looks like he may be right about Blackmon being a better talent, but we all know what can happen when a player makes the jump to the NFL. Let’s give it a couple seasons before calling Bryant a bust and calling Blackmon Calvin Johnson.
Forearm bash to Game On! for sharing the interview with us
