Saints film room: In right role, Dez Bryant still has traits to be an asset for offense

Michael Thomas is the best wide receiver Drew Brees has ever played with.

You want the ball in Thomas' hands. Often. He’s the surest shot at positive yardage, which is why for the first time in Brees’ career, the New Orleans offense has one guy eating up a disproportionate amount of targets.

Thomas earns every pass that comes his direction. You aren’t going to find examples of Brees forcing him the ball or looking off open receivers to go back to Thomas. At the same time, it’s fair to wonder if things would be this lopsided if the other receivers on this roster were forcing Brees' decisions by getting open.

Dez Bryant is returning to the NFL -- with the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints are about to find out the answer to that question after signing Dez Bryant on Wednesday morning. The former Cowboys All-Pro wide receiver isn’t here to be the top option in the offense, that distinction is firmly in the hands of Thomas. Bryant is here to show that he can still play at a high level after being released by Dallas back in April.

It's an intriguing idea if you have the right idea in mind. The Saints don’t have any expectations of Bryant turning back the clock five years. What they need is a player who can catch some passes and give them a consistent presence alongside Thomas. The Saints’ No. 2 receiver, Tre’Quan Smith, has 12 catches. Cam Meredith has nine. Thomas has 70. It’s easy to see how that could become an issue if a team figures out how to limit Thomas’ production one day.

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Watching Bryant's film from 2017, he should be able to fill that role in some shape or form if he can pick up the offense and is still the same player he was the last time we saw him play. There has been a lot of talk over the last year about the wide receiver being washed up, but those people are likely comparing Bryant to what he was at the height of his game. If you look at the things Bryant can do, and compare them against what New Orleans is getting out of the position, and how he could fit within the offense, the view is different.

One of the biggest knocks on Bryant was that he dropped too many passes last year, when he finished with 838 yards on 69 catches with six touchdowns. He was targeted 132 times and, depending on which stat service you like to use, dropped 11 or 12 passes, or about 13 percent of his targets.

The drops were out of character for Bryant relative to his earlier years and are probably indicative of some decline. Some of the drops looked they were a result of focus, others occurred due to Bryant not being able to outleap other players the way he once did, and some of them were due to poorly placed passes. Playing with Brees should help Bryant. Ted Ginn Jr. is a recent example of how quickly a reputation can change. Before joining the Saints in 2017, he dropped seven passes with the Carolina Panthers. He had two drops last season.

Simply put, Bryant was on the of best wide receivers to play for one of the most successful franchises in NFL history, the Dallas Cowboys.

In his eight seasons there, he made three Pro Bowl appearances and set the franchise record for career touchdown receptions (73). He's also No. 5 in career Cowboys receiving yards (7,459) and No. 3 in career Cowboys receptions (531).

Bryant eased many teams, including the Dallas Cowboys, when he ran a a blazing 4.52 at the NFL combine in 2010.

This nugget by NFL.com was included in Bryant's draft analysis:

"Bryant is an extremely talented receiver that has legitimate downfield speed as well as the ability to adjust to off-target throws."

Ever wonder why Bryant throws up an "X" after scoring? He explained it to NFL Network (as transcribed by FOX Sports Southwest):

"The X is for all the defenses," Bryant said recently in an interview with the NFL Network's Michael Silver. "I'm the guy to watch."

Bryant went on to say he's X-ing out "All of the bad, all of the negativity that ever approached me."

"People don't understand me; they paint their own pictures of me. I look at them as they're just negative, they want to bring me down - I'll show them. The biggest joy I can ever get is me proving a doubter wrong. I love it. I love it."

Bryant's mother, Angela Bryant, became pregnant as a high school freshman and gave birth to Dez when she was 15 years old. She was a mother to three children by 18.

In order to provide for her family, Angela Bryant sold cocaine and was arrested in 1997 and served an 18-month prison sentence. Dez Bryant was only nine.

She was also arrested for possession in 2009 and received 10 years probation.

Dez quickly became one of the most highly touted high school prospects in Texas as part of the 2007 recruiting class. He signed with Oklahoma State despite offers from more prestigious programs like Nebraska and Oklahoma.

While playing for Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy, Dez set multiple school and Big 12 Conference records.

Then came trouble.

Midway through his junior year, Dez was suspended by the NCAA for lying about his relationship with former Dallas Cowboy Deion Sanders.

Dez lied about a workout at Sanders' house, fearing wrongdoing. Dez admitted his actions to the NCAA, but his appeal was denied.

He would forgo his senior season by turning pro. He was drafted in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys.

Dez's first legal issue came in 2011 after his rookie season with Dallas when he was sued for for unpaid jewlery and ticket debts. He eventually settled on an amount between $400,000-500,000.

In January 2012, Dez was detained by police, but not arrested, for an incident in a Miami nightclub. 

In June of that year, Dez turned himself in on a domestic violence charge for allegedly hitting his mother. ESPN reported Dez pushed Angela Bryant while arguing with his half brother.

He reached a plea agreement.

After a tumultuous eight seasons, the Cowboys parted ways with Dez on April 13.

Dez called the release "personal" and made clear through social media posts that his time in the NFL was far from over.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones joined has the trash talking and has taken multiple jabs at Dez during the season, including saying he wished Dallas could bring in a "No. 1 receiver."

While several teams looked at the once elite receiver, New Orleans was the only one to fully commit.

One of the more bizarre stories from Dez's days in Dallas were the team-imposed "Dez Rules," which were put in play before the 2012 season. 

According to the Dallas Morning News, the "Dez Rules" required their trouble-prone star to obey a "midnight curfew, refrain from attending any clubs, strip clubs or parties and requested that he not drink alcohol."

Security cameras were also placed in Dez's home.

Another thing that should aid Bryant is that he’ll now be playing in an offense where he won’t be the primary focus of the defense and will be operating out in a scheme that uses complementary routes to help players get open instead of the isolation ones the Cowboys often prefer. Both of those things should help him create more separation and better situations in which to catch passes.

If Bryant, who will see action on the outside, is also capable of playing out of the slot, which he did on about 30 targets last season, it is easy to envision him creating some mismatches if he continues to adjust his game toward this style of play. He knows how to use his bigger frame to make physical plays and box players out. Some of those traits showed up repeatedly when reviewing his 2017 film.

One of the examples came during a Week 7 game against the San Francisco 49ers, when, at the goal line, Bryant lined up across from cornerback Rashard Robinson. The wide receiver then slipped between the cornerback and safety Adrian Colbert to get to the back of the end zone, where he leaped and got both feet down before falling out of bounds.

Another one came against the Cardinals when he ran a crossing route, sat in a zone to make the catch, and then turned up field where he broke a tackle. But before being brought down, six Cardinals players wrapped up Bryant, but he managed to pull them several yards before falling into the end zone.

In fact, some of Bryant’s best moments came in the red zone. He also had an impressive leaping catch on a fade route over a Washington cornerback, and diving 10-yard touchdown against the Green Bay Packers.

If we've learned anything about the New Orleans Saints in the past few weeks, it's this.

That isn’t to say Bryant can’t play on the outside. While he can still get down the field, he also isn’t running past cornerbacks the way he did at the start of his career. But the wide receiver still can make contested catches. He showed this by making one for 40 yards against Oakland, a 26-yard back-shoulder catch against the Chargers with Trevor Williams in coverage, and another back-shoulder grab against San Francisco’s Ahkello Witherspoon for a gain of 27.

Brees should be able to take advantage of those skills by throwing Bryant open and squeezing passes in tight windows.

Bryant has not played in nearly a year, so he’s going to have to prove he can still do all the things he did in 2017. He’ll also need to show that he can pick up a complex offense in a short period and blend into the fabric of an attack where he won’t be the No. 1 receiver for the first time in his career. None of that will be easy.

There are a lot of things to like about Bryant’s game, especially if he can adapt it to this system. He still has good football left to play, and this should be a mutually-beneficial pairing for both player and team. If not, the commitment on both sides is small enough to where it shouldn’t hurt anyone if it doesn’t go as hoped.

But this was a chance the Saints had to take.

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