As you may know, the Senior Bowl for college football players is hoping to get their name called in the NFL Draft in late April. James Washington, the star wide receiver for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, is currently attending practice for the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, where he hopes to boost his draft stock in this years NFL Draft. In most mock drafts, Washington is predicted to go mid to late first round to mid to late second round. Washington won the Biletnikoff Award (best overall wide receiver in the nation) with 74 receptions, 1549 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. Most scouts have Washington as their no. 1 choice in wide receivers in this upcoming draft class.
The Dallas Cowboys had a rollercoaster of a season mostly because they had to deal with their starting running back, Ezekiel Elliot, getting suspended for six weeks. But behind the scenes of all the drama that Elliot was creating, Dez Bryant was not helping the situation. Some might say that Bryant’s season this year was “under-par” with 69 receptions, 838 yards and only six touchdowns. With the Cowboys record at 9-7, they miss the playoffs and go into the offseason with even more questions that they had offseason. The main question that everyone wants to know is, are they going to try and replace Dez Bryant?
At the senior bowl practice, the first team to walk up and talk to James Washington was the Dallas Cowboys. Which then leads to questions like...are they going to release or try to trade Bryant? Are they planning on keeping Bryant, drafting Washington, and releasing either Terrance Williams or Bryce Butler? Washington said that he would be a great compliment to Bryant and often studied his tape while at Oklahoma State.
With the Cowboys season over, they are looking for the diamond in the rough. The past few drafts have gone well for the Cowboys; they seem to always get the guy that they are expecting to draft at that point and make smart trades both before and during the draft. But this year is going to be very interesting, especially if you hear the sentence, “The Dallas Cowboys select, James Washington, wide receiver Oklahoma State.” If the Cowboys select Washington and Bryant is still with them, then be ready for a mad dash for teams to try and make trades for Bryant.
It is going to be very hard to trade or even release Bryant from the Cowboys without having the fans erupt in anger. Yes, he has caused some issues on the sidelines, but in the end, he has the all-time receiving touchdowns record in Dallas Cowboy history, and that is what the fans are going to see. But, with Elliot back from his suspension, Bryant on one side of the field, and Washington possibly on the other side, that should give any defensive coordinator trouble when planning to play the Dallas Cowboys.
