As the New England Patriots' upcoming clash with the Dallas Cowboys nears, a reporter at Boston-area TV station NESN remembered that the Patriots had the opportunity to draft stud receiver Dez Bryant not once, but twice in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Patriots ‘Did Our Work’ On Dez Bryant Before NFL Draft
Bill Belichick and the Patriots considered drafting Dez Bryant in 2010 but traded down instead, according to a report, adding a level of intrigue to the Patriots’ Week 6 clash against the Cowboys.
After trading down from the 22nd pick to the 24th pick, the Patriots swapped that pick with the 'Boys for three picks that wound up becoming Pro Bowl CB Devin McCourty, WR Taylor Price and TE Aaron Hernandez. The Cowboys took Bryant with that 24th pick. It's safe to say both teams made out fine in the whole transaction, and Bill Belichick remembered evaluating Bryant:
“We definitely did our work on Bryant,” Belichick said. “I think the things that we see -- he’s a big receiver, a strong guy, hard to match up on outside, hard guy to tackle after the catch. He’s got, like a lot of these receivers, it seems like we see one every week that have outstanding size or they’re very strong. They have great reach, and even if you have them covered, you really don’t have them covered because of their length, and their ability to either body up the defender, or just out-jump them or out-reach them for the ball. He’s definitely in that category and a hard guy to tackle when he gets the ball in his hands.”
Oh, Bill. Pretty much "Yeah, the kid's good, but so is every other tall, athletic wide receiver. Give me a two-TE set any day of the week." Still, interesting to think what might have been if Tom Brady were throwing to Bryant.
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