Fantasy football owners who shelled out an expensive first- or second-round pick for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant are not happy right about now (I may or may not be a disgruntled Bryant owner).
Bryant, one of the preeminent wide receivers in the game, has appeared in just four games this season due to foot and knee injuries. Though he's started Dallas' last three games, he's really only performed well in one of them. On the season, Bryant has just 17 catches for 209 yards and one touchdown. Yesterday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers he came down with just five passes on 12 targets for 45 yards. Yikes.
So the question fantasy football owners have to be asking themselves is can Bryant bounce back? With Tony Romo scheduled to return in Week 11, optimism is beginning to grow.
"For the answer, consider just how bad Matt Cassel is at throwing vertical passes (defined as aerials that travel 11 or more yards downfield)," ESPN NFL Insider KC Joyner wrote. "Over the six-season span of 2009-2015, only Josh Freeman has a lower yards-per-attempt (YPA) mark (9.2) on vertical passes than Cassel (9.3) among QBs who have started a minimum of 40 games. Cassel even managed to rank 30th out of 32 qualifying quarterbacks in vertical YPA in 2008 when he was throwing passes to an in-his-prime Randy Moss.
"Even a rusty Romo should be a quantum leap over Cassel, so look for Bryant to become a double-digit fantasy scoring threat as soon as Romo is under center."
Last season, with a healthy Romo and a rolling Cowboys offense, Bryant caught 88 passes for 1,320 yards and a career-high 16 touchdowns. While Romo is still recovering from a broken collar bone, it's not unreasonable to expect Bryant to jump back into the first tier of fantasy receivers when the QB returns. Bryant has totaled at least 103 targets in every season from 2011-2014 while also posting three consecutive years with at least 1,200 yards and double digit TDs from 2012-2014. The guy is an elite option when healthy.
Of course, even if Bryant can turn his season around, it may be too late for some fantasy football owners. The playoffs are just a few short weeks away in most league formats. Here's to hoping you were able to tread water in Bryant's absence. In an ideal world, he'll help you with your playoff push over the next couple games.
