Which wide receiver will have more fantasy value: Roy Williams or Dez Bryant?
About the same time that owner Jerry Jones decided the Cowboys would select Bryant with the 24th pick in the 2010 draft, he also decided what uniform number the rookie would wear.
"He'll have 88," Jones said.
That's 88, as in the number worn by Michael Irvin, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the leading receiver in Cowboys' history. As in the number worn by Drew Pearson, who caught more passes than any other wideout in Dallas history prior to Irvin.
Everything's bigger in Texas, they say, but obviously, the Cowboys expect really big things from Bryant, their prized first-round pick.
Then again, they also expected big things from Roy Williams after sending three draft picks, including a first-rounder, to Detroit during the 2008 season for the former Pro Bowl wide receiver -- and we all know how that one has gone.
Williams' career has nosedived to the point where he has averaged barely more than two catches per game in his season-and-a-half with Dallas. Ostensibly, he's still No. 2 in the pecking order among the Cowboys' wideouts (behind Miles Austin), and he's still keeping up appearances.
When asked in one radio interview this offseason about the rapport between him and quarterback Tony Romo, Williams said, "This year, we're connecting like Montana and Rice."
Apparently, they even exaggerate big in Texas.
Despite the bravado, even Williams appears resigned to the fact that Bryant's emergence is not a question of if, but when.
"The dude is good and he doesn't even know it yet," Williams was quoted in the Dallas Morning News. "Once the light bulb goes on, he will probably be the best in the league."
Bottom line: During this season, Bryant will overtake Williams in fantasy value.
