Dez Bryant has been a monster this season, blossoming into one of the NFL’s best receivers. He’ll have the chance to defend that lofty label this weekend, too, when the Cowboys visit Detroit for a showdown with the Lions and record-breaking receiver Calvin Johnson.
Johnson, who set a new NFL record with 1,964 yards last season, is widely regarded as the best receiver in football. Bryant has a great deal of respect for the Lions wideout, but he seems to believe that he is just as good.
“Truth be told, I don’t compare myself to nobody,” Bryant said Monday in an interview with 103.3 FM ESPN in Dallas. “I think Calvin’s the best at what he [does]. I think I’m the best at what I do.”
While he won’t compare himself directly to Megatron, Bryant (6-foot-2) is confident that he can do anything that the much taller Johnson (6-foot-5) can.
“I believe I can do whatever he can do,” Bryant said “I think it’s just a pride thing. When it comes to football, just being on the field, it’s a mindset and having a mentality. I honestly believe when I’m there, I’ll be feeling like there’s nothing I can’t do. Whatever the coaches ask me to do, I’m going to do it.”
Bryant’s numbers through the first 50 games of his career — he’s played exactly 50 — are actually superior to Johnson’s. The Cowboys receiver has posted 242 catches, 3,440 yards and 33 touchdowns in his first 50 games, while Johnson managed 217 grabs, 3,362 yards and 26 scores to start his career. Johnson has been more productive over the past season-plus, though, catching 155 passes and 2,456 yards to Bryant’s 134 and 1,951. Bryant has scored seven more touchdowns in that time (18 to 11), but Johnson still managed more yards in 16 games last season than Bryant has in the 23 games since the start of the 2012 season.
So, Bryant can definitely make a strong case, but showing Megatron up in Detroit this weekend would definitely give clout to that claim.
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