Breaking news last night in the northeast was that former Steeler's Super Bowl MVP, WR Santonio Holmes, had been traded to the New York Jets in exchange for a 5th round pick. With that news, it becomes more intriguing that the Steelers met with Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant. It has been reported that some teams have dropped Bryant off their board completely due to character concerns and I'm inclined to believe the Jaguars are one of those teams. Clearly the Steelers are not one of those teams, and neither are the Bengals, 49ers, Ravens, Patriots, Cowboys and most importantly the Broncos and Dolphins.
With the Broncos set to ship Brandon Marshall off as soon as possible, considering the Broncos as a candidate to draft Dez Bryant is not inconceivable. Factor in reports that the Broncos front office believe Bryant to be a top 10 talent and that they are supposedly scheduled to meet with the receiver, it almost seems probable that they'd take him with the 11th overall pick.
Then there's the Dolphins at 12th overall who also have a need at wide receiver. With Ted Ginn Jr., Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo acting as the top 3 receivers for the Dolphins, Dez Bryant could join the Dolphins and make an instant impact as their #1 receiver. According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, Bill Parcells "loves the idea of being a mentor to Oklahoma State WR Dez Bryant and is close with Bryant's agent, Eugene Parker." Greg Cote of the Miami Herald certainly loves the idea of Dez Bryant as a Dolphin and even suggests that the team should consider trading past the Broncos to obtain him.
With such interest directly behind the Jaguars, would a team like the Steelers, Cowboys or Ravens risk allowing Bryant to be available to the Broncos and/or Dolphins? Probably not. For them to have a chance at the consensus best receiver in the draft, they'd likely have to trade up to pick him and the Jaguars could very likely be looking to get our of the 10th spot.
- Adam Stites