Top 200 NFL Fantasy Football Rankings – 8/7/ 2013

Health issues, coupled with his off and on the field question marks had many wondering if Dez Bryant would become the star his talent suggested he should be. Over the course of his first two seasons in the league Bryant showed flashes of greatness and even proved to be a respectable touchdown target with nine in his second season.

To be fair to Bryant, it usually takes a receiver until their third season in the league to finally put it all together and that’s exactly what we saw from the Cowboys former first-round pick in 2012.

Breakout Season

While Bryant’s production was up and down through the first half of last season, you could tell he was an improved player from previous seasons. That said, it wasn’t until week 10 that Bryant started a second half run that proved he was ready to be among the elite NFL receivers in the game.

From week 10 to week 16, Bryant totaled 808-yards receiving with 10 touchdowns and posting at least one score in every game. It wasn’t all fun and games for fantasy owners however as a finger injury before week 15 (during the fantasy playoffs) jeopardized the rest of his season.

Bryant could’ve opted for surgery at that time (forcing him to the rest of the season), but with playoff hopes on the line, he toughed it out and played. His week 16 performance against the Saints (224-yards receiving, two touchdowns) led many fantasy owners to championships, and while the Cowboys failed to make the playoffs, Bryant’s play certainly wasn’t the reason why.

No doubt Bryant is one of the elite receivers in fantasy leagues coming into the 2013 season and if not for Calvin Johnson, he would be the top receiver on my draft board this summer.

What impresses me perhaps more than his on the field play, is that Bryant has made it a point to clean up his life of the field (or at least we haven’t heard anything to this point) and he’s even taken on a leadership role on the team.

Well deserved after his performance and commitment to the team over the past year and a half. While Bryant will still have the occasional injury to fight through because of his aggressive style of play, he’s worthy of a second-round pick in fantasy leagues, and should have another terrific season.

@FanInfo