No one expected CeeDee Lamb to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2020. He was considered by many the best wide receiver in that draft and the Cowboys held the 17th overall pick. In addition to the likelihood that he wouldn’t be there when the Cowboys were on the clock, there were some who thought that spending a first round pick on a WR would be unwise. Fortunately for Cowboys fans, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys front office did not pass up on the best player available and they turned in the card to draft CeeDee Lamb.
Most Cowboys fans were ecstatic about the decision and Lamb had great expectations placed upon him as a rookie. Lamb started quickly out of the gate during his rookie season recording 29 receptions for 433 yards and 2 TD’s over the first 5 games of the season. That put on him on pace to finish with 93 receptions, 1385 yards, 6 TD’s in his rookie season. Unfortunately, his starting quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a season ending injury in week 5 and Lamb’s production dropped while catching passes from Andy Dalton, Ben DiNucci, and Garrett Gilbert. Despite playing with a collection of mediocre quarterbacks, CeeDee Lamb still managed to finish with a very respectable 74 receptions, 935 yards, and 5 TD’s.
2021 was being touted by many as a breakout year for CeeDee Lamb. Lamb has a year of NFL experience under his belt and his starting quarterback is back; moreover, Lamb had been putting in some extra work in the offseason and had gained a few pounds of muscle. In a video of one of his training sessions posted on instagram, CeeDee Lamb talks about his motivation to perform and how he fuels up for games.
This season, CeeDee Lamb is off to another hot start but until his game winning touchdown catch against the Patriots this past week, he hasn’t been getting much of the attention. That is mainly because there is a lot of attention to go around. Offensively, the Cowboys are getting production and contribution from Amari Cooper, Dalton Schultz, Ezekiel Elliott, and Tony Pollard. Then of course Dak Prescott is getting the majority of the attention by playing at an MVP level. The offensive players aren’t getting all of the attention either. The Dallas Cowboys defense is even more of a hot topic of conversation. Cornerback Trevon Diggs is leading the charge with his league leading 7 interceptions over just 6 games. With all of these other players playing at a high level it’s not surprising that CeeDee Lamb has managed to fly a little bit under the radar this season. Bill Belichick seemed to forget about him last week as well with his focus on number one WR Amari Cooper and Dak’s security blanket Dalton Schultz. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb made the Patriots pay for ignoring the second year star WR time after time, including a 44 yard catch that would have put the Cowboys first and goal inside the 5 yard line had it not been negated by a Tyron Smith holding penalty.
After 6 games so far this season, CeeDee Lamb quietly leads the team with 33 catches, 497 yards, and 4 TD’s. He is currently on pace to finish with 93 catches and 1408 yards over the new 17 game schedule. That is pretty much on par with his pace early in his rookie season, the only difference is last year the Cowboys were playing from behind quite a bit and this year they have enjoyed comfortable leads. Given the discrepancy in game situations, his start this year is more impressive than it was last year. More impressive still if you take into account his touchdown total, which currently puts him on pace to double his total from a year ago. CeeDee Lamb is playing at a very high level and he continues to improve in his second season. He is becoming a more effective blocker and he is showcasing the ability to gain yards after the catch, which made him such a dangerous threat in college.
There are a lot of first round picks that Cowboys fans regret the team making over the year. Taco Charlton, Morris Claiborne, Bobby Carpenter, etc. Imagine if the Cowboys did NOT draft CeeDee Lamb? That is one “what if?”, that Cowboys fans are not losing sleep over.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
**All Data and statistics obtained and verified from ;https://www.pro-football-reference.com/
