Dez Bryant to Work Out of the Slot More in 2014

Bryant is coming off his first career Pro Bowl appearance

New passing game coordinator and playcaller Scott Linehan has said he intends to use Cole Beasley, usually a slot receiver, on the outside more in 2014. The Cowboys will also experiment with Dez Bryant, the Cowboys’ best big-play receiver, in the slot, Jason Garrett said recently.

Per Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPN Dallas, Bryant caught 11 passes out of the slot in 2013--not a huge amount, but that number was up from just two receptions out of the slot in 2012.

"He's grown as an inside receiver," Garrett said this week. "The trait and the qualities are different. I've been around a lot of outside receivers who looked like a fish out of water when they moved inside. If you picture an X receiver in right formation, there's no one outside of you. You're typically working against a corner by yourself or there's a safety rotating over the top. When you're inside, you have people inside of you and outside of you. You have a linebacker walked out, you have a safety coming down, and you have to have a feel for how to run the routes because there's a lot going on.

"It has a lot to do with your feel as an athlete--your vision, your instincts and your experience. You have to get in there and do it."

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