Heir Apparent?

Last season, the Dallas Cowboys traded 1st, 3rd and 6th round picks in this years draft to Detroit for wide receiver Roy Williams to be the number 2 wideout behind Terrell Owens. After arriving, Williams caught all of 19 passes and 1 touchdown for the Boys. This season, TO is gone and Roy Williams finds himself at the top of depth chart in Big D. Can he handle the upgrade?

Past Cowboy greats Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders all have their doubts. So do I… After going to Dallas, Williams professed his love of being a Cowboy and being thrilled to return to his roots in Texas. A college superstar at the University of Texas, the former Longhorn indicated that he was ready for big things in Dallas after leaving the perennial losers, the Detroit Lions. Unfortunately, that prediction has not translated to the field though Roy blames that on lack of work with quarterback Tony Romo and a painful foot injury he played through last season.

Curiously, Williams is getting support from a former Cowboy wide receiver, all time great Drew Pearson (who as the original number 88, needs to be put into the Cowboys Ring of Honor at the next opportunity!) who says Williams gets a pass from last season and with his size and talent, should fly high this season in Dallas. Traditionally Pearson has been a little less optimistic when evaluating the current crop of Cowboys, so time will tell if he’s correct this time around.

Bottom line for me, Roy Williams needs to produce big time this year. The rumors of poor practice habits better go out the window as he realigns his gears from Detroit speed to Dallas speed. The Cowboys took a huge risk letting TO go and anointing Williams heir apparent. Only Roy can prove whether that risk was warranted or not!