#9 BUST-O-METER: Dez Bryant

BUST-O-METER

The NFL Draft is suppose to be a time where teams fill their rosters with young promising players that will ensure success in the future, unfortunately this isn’t always the case. Year in and Year out players are selected and fail to live up to their potential and are labeled BUSTS. These Busts could potentially have a crippling affect on a franchises future. Some of the more famous draft Busts are Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, Lawrence Phillips, and Ki-Jana Carter. How a bust is determined is too undefined to get into details about.

A prime example is the 6 straight losing seasons following the Bengals failure to develop Akili Smith into a capable NFL starter. Compare that to the 6 straight winning seasons produced by the Chargers after drafting Phillip Rivers in 2004. Of course these players are not solely responsible for their team’s success or failures but they did have a major impact.

After looking over the players projected to go in the first round I was amazed how many gave me an uneasy feeling. This week we are going to count down the top 10 players with the most bust potential. I encourage that all the readers get involved and suggest potential busts of the week. Leave comments to help me feel better about a player or continue to add on the pile.

Player:

Dez Bryant- WR- Okla. St.

BUST-O-METER:

6 out of 10

Thoughts:

Dez Bryant comes in at #9 on our top 10 Bust potential players.  Bryant plays a prime position where many teams are in search of the next big playmaker. While at Oklahoma State Bryant showed is ability to make plays all over the field. One of Bryant’s best attributes is his ability to stretch the field with the deep ball.

The problem is that Bryant has several character red flags. NFL teams are dealing with an upwind of players being suspended for off the field issues. In many cases these suspension devastate teams by leaving big holes in lineups. This also may cost several executives jobs because using a high draft pick on a questionable character only to have them get suspended doesn’t look good on a resume. Determining character issues can be tricky because sometimes players get a bad reputation but other times the reputation is justified.

Another problem Bryant faces is the fact that the wide receiver position usually has one of the longest learning curves. Bryant also faces an issue because he didn’t play in a pro style offense that required him to run pro style routes. Bryant will face an adjustment period.

I think the character issues coupled with the adjustment period makes Bryant a high Bust candidate. What if he struggles with his adjustment to the NFL will those character issues limit his ability to work through the problems?