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Film Room: Breaking down Dez Bryant's development into an elite deep threat

Matthew Emmons / USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys can always count on Dez Bryant.

Even when he's had outbursts or when the Cowboys have had their own ups and downs, Bryant has been a mainstay. When he's not catching passes, Bryant is throwing blocks and finding ways to contribute. 

Going back to his time at Oklahoma State, Bryant's consistently been one of the most reliable players on the field. He has always had a plethora of talent, with the ability to run through and around defensive backs. He played angry. He was angry. 

Bryant always wanted the ball, sometimes his competitiveness getting the best of him when he had spats with coaches. While many of those seemed fiery on the sideline, his coaches have said Bryant has always cared about his team and his craft.

In each of the last three seasons, Bryant has caught at least 84 passes for 1,200 yards or more and 12 touchdowns. This season he has a career-high 14 touchdowns. They've come in many fashions, including the deep ball.

Bryant has become one of the league's best deep threats because of his quickness, power and technique.

Against the New York Giants in Week 7, Bryant was on the back-side of a Trips Right formation. He was alone with the cornerback, nonchalant, no arm bend, no knee bend. He looked disinterested. He looked… like he knew he was going to beat the cornerback.

Suddenly, he shook his shoulders and pumped his right foot inside. The cornerback tried to match Bryant's quickness inside by sliding his feet forward and throwing his hands straight out like a boxer throwing hand combinations.

But, with ease, Bryant broke outside and clubbed the cornerback with his long left arm. Then he hustled downfield, by the sideline, and outstretched his arms over his head for the catch and the run after. With the cornerback dragging at his legs, Bryant dove forward and extended his left arm over the goal line, knocking the pylon over for the 25-yard score.

Bryant's blend of skills have allowed the Cowboys to dictate coverages. Since he's at his best when one-on-one with a cornerback, they often put him on the backside of formations. That forces safeties to cheat over to the strong-side, leaving cornerbacks on islands. For Bryant that means punishing defenders one step at a time.

It was Week 10, first-and-10. Bryant was again on the backside of Trips. This time, it was on the formation's right. A Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back was rolled up to the line of scrimmage in Cover 3 press.

Bryant released inside, with a long, diagonal right step. He followed-up with a quick left step and turned his shoulders inside. That froze the cornerback. 

Startled, the defender threw his hands up and out, but his feet were flat and his weight was back, which allowed Bryant to cross his face to the outside and throw a winding left punch to knock the cornerback back and inside. Then Bryant threw the cornerback's inside arm down.

The cornerback stumbled and hooked Bryant's inside hip. That didn't slow the 26-year-old receiver down, as Bryant ran by the cornerback, worked his way inside and on top of the route and caught the ball over his outside shoulder. Then he flexed his muscles again. 

Bryant high-stepped to shake the cornerback off and pulled another Jaguars defensive back across the goal line for the 68-yard score.

More than one-third of Bryant's 1,221 yards this season, according to Pro Football Focus, have come on 13 catches of 20 or more yards, eighth-most among wide receivers in the NFL.

What makes Bryant difficult to defend is he can beat press coverage and blow past cornerbacks. He's strong enough to wring cornerbacks' hands or use his quickness to unsettle a their feet. He’s able to set up a cornerback at the line of scrimmage and then smoothly work to the top of the route to get in front of them.

In Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Bryant was once again on the backside of a Trips formation. Like against the Jaguars, he was isolated on the far right. The Eagles were playing Man-Free coverage. Their cornerback was in press.

At the snap, Bryant chopped his feet in execution of a foot-fire technique. He did this to press the cornerback, to force a false step and to make him turn in the wrong direction. When the cornerback's first step was back with his left foot, Bryant stepped inside to straighten the defender out and then ran across his face outside. The cornerback squared his hips and raised his shoulders.

He tried to jam Bryant outside, but the fifth-year receiver shoved him back with a straight left and ran down the sideline. Bryant looked back for the ball, which caused the cornerback to do it too. When the defender did, Bryant hurried downfield and worked his way over the top of the route, catching the ball in front of his chest and the cornerback for a 25-yard touchdown.

The catch was one of four of more than 20 yards. The Eagles struggled to match Bryant's quickness and power throughout the game. Like many others, they've also found that he’s developed as a route-runner.

Since he's come into the NFL, Bryant has improved his route stems and smoothened his route breaks. It's made it harder for cornerbacks to read his routes, allowing him to get a quick step on them and push them away to separate. Although he's improved, he still needs more polishing, particularly on creating room downfield to separate and for the throw.

As always, the Cowboys can count on Bryant to improve there, too.

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