The Last Time We Had A Star-Studded Receiver...

Back in the 2001, 2002 and 2003 seasons, Oklahoma State had one of the most talented receivers in the NCAA. As a Heisman Trophy and All-America candidate in 2002, Rashaun Woods was arguably one of the best receivers ever to play at Oklahoma State, and his stats prove that. Just like Dez Bryant, the offense relied on him as their only play-making receiver on the team. In 2001, Woods had 1,023 yards receiving (Most in Big XII) with 10 TDs and set a single-season record with 80 receptions. In 2002, Rashaun was even more impressive, recording 17 TDs to go with 1,695 yards receiving, setting a record for 3rd most yards in a single season in NCAA history. Woods had another impressive year in 2003, recording 1,367 yards along with 15 TDs.

Woods left Oklahoma State with a career total of 293 receptions for 2,414 yards receiving and 42 touchdowns, all of which are Big XII records. In 2002 the Pokes went 8-5 and in 2003 went 9-4.

There has been much contreversy this year about the lack of utilizing our other receivers. However, if we have someone with the immense amounts of talent as Dez, why don't we continue to use Bryant until if fails? That is a similiar approach we took in 2003 when we had Rashaun and went 9-4. This is the same theory Trooper Taylor took when responding to the criticism stating, "If it's not broke, we're not going to fix it...If the defense takes him away, they [other receivers] know when their window of opportunity comes up, they jump all over it. Because if not they'll be standing right next to me and we'll give it to the next guy."

How can we compare Rashaun to Dez..?
So far this year, Dez Bryant has been the play-making receiver and mainly the only target Robinson has thrown to. Out of the 20 passes Robinson has thrown to receivers this year, 16 have gone to Bryant for 326 yards and 3 TDs. The other 4 went for 51 yards and no TDs.

Can we expect Dez to be the receiver that gets the vast majority of receptions and yards all year long just as Rashaun did in his time at OSU?
Well, it wouldn't be a bad thing considering the 2002-03 season teams were both successful (8-5 and 9-3) with the same game plan. Opposing teams still haven't even figured out a way to stop Dez either, taking into account that we still have other offensive threats in Pettigrew, Hunter, and Zac Robinson.

Having Dez as our only receiving threat is a good thing in my mind. If opposing defenses use double coverage, they will leave the running game open for Spud or allow other receivers to be wide-open. Then, if the coverage moves in to stop the run, we use play-action and throw the ball right back to Dez or Pettigrew as we have been doing.

So, do the Pokes really need to spread the ball around to other receivers just because Dez has a large majority of the receptions and the others barely have any? Do we really need to control or limit the amount of times Dez catches the ball as others suggest?

I sure hope not. Fans forget how rare it is to come across players with such talent as Bryant. So why not use our big #1 as much as we can while we still have him?