How many targets will Bryant see in Week 3?

By foxsports
Published

IRVING, Texas -- Dez Bryant has been targeted 21 times through the first two games this season. Through the first two weeks, 13 receivers have had more targets.

Isn't it time that Bryant becomes one of the league leaders in this category?

Bryant's combination of elite athleticism, strength and ball skills coupled with Tony Romo's increased trust in the 24-year-old make it seem realistic to give Bryant 15-20 opportunities every game. Through 45 career games, Bryant has twice been targeted 15 times, both coming last season.

"I just feel like we've got a lot of playmakers on this team," Bryant said Friday. "Versus man coverage you can basically go either way. You've got me and [Jason Witten] on the same side. You've got Terrance Williams. You've got Miles Austin. You've got Dwayne [Harris] also coming in. All of us can make some plays. That's what you deal with each and every week.

"It's all good. My number's called, I'll do my job."

In Bryant's rookie season, he was targeted six times per game. That number has steadily increased each season, going to 6.87 in 2011 and 8.62 in 2012.

Detroit's Calvin Johnson was targeted 12.75 times per game last season to lead the league, but Johnson also doesn't have the same caliber of receiving targets along side of him.

As Bryant said, a supporting cast of Witten, Austin, Williams, Harris and DeMarco Murray makes it difficult to focus only on throwing to the team's best playmaker.

"We know the importance of Dez Bryant in our offense," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said Thursday. "We'll keep trying to give him chances."

Could Garrett ever see Bryant getting 20-25 targets in a single game?

"I think if the opportunities present themselves, you just want to keep attacking," Garrett said. "Dez is a guy you want to attack with. But you have other guys that you like to attack with as well.

"Dez is a guy that we have a tremendous amount of confidence in, but we have confidence in other guys, too."

Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota