Dallas Cowboys: Why CeeDee Lamb will become WR1A

After missing the playoffs in 2019, the Dallas Cowboys were once again looking to upgrade their defense in the 2020 NFL draft. But as each team passed up on drafting one of the best wide receivers in the class, CeeDee Lamb, it became abundantly clear the Cowboys were going to make a play on the Oklahoma Sooner All American wide receiver if he was there at number 17.

And to the delight of Cowboys Nation and Jerry Jones, Lamb was available, snatched up faster than a tornado sighting in the flatlands of Kansas. With the selection of Lamb, his presence immediately made the Cowboys a top-five receiving corps.

After having an impressive rookie campaign, Lamb is the primary reason the Cowboys have at a top-3 receiving corps in the league and maybe the best.

Based on his trajectory, I believe CeeDee Lamb will surpass all expectations and become the Cowboys WR1A in just his second season. In laymen terms, Lamb will be a number one receiver, along with Amari Cooper and possibly Michael Gallup.

Why Ceedee Lamb will become the Dallas Cowboys second, number one wide receiver and make the Pro Bowl.

For starters, Lamb was viewed as a top-10 draft pick in the 2020 draft so Dallas got a major steal with Lamb falling to them at number 17. Dallas didn’t need Lamb’s services because they already had a strong receiving corps with Coop, Gallup, Cedric Wilson, Noah Brown, Blake Jarwin, and Dalton Schultz. But the opportunity to select another lethal receiving threat was too hard to pass up, even for a team that severely needed a defensive stalwart.

Imagine what Lamb is going to do with a full offseason of OTA’s (Organized Team Activities), mini camps, and an entire training camp with Dak under center. Lamb is going to explode this season because he has all of the traits you want in a receiver: speed, fantastic route runner, reliable hands, destroys single coverage, and has a high football IQ.

In reality, Lamb was the BAP (Best Available Player) and if Dallas didn’t select Lamb, their arch enemy-the Philadelphia Eagles-were sure to select Lamb with their pick at 21.

During the first five games of the season with Dak as the quarterback, Lamb proved he was the real deal as he caught 29 passes for 433 yards in five games and two touchdowns. His best game to that point was against the Cleveland Browns when he caught five passes for 79 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Before Dak Prescott’s season-ending ankle injury, Lamb was on pace to surpass 1,300 yards, but Dak was lost and four different QBs started over the course of the season. Lamb still somehow finished his impressive rookie season with 74 receptions for 935 yards and five touchdowns. The ultra-talented ranked second in receiving yards behind fellow rookie receiver Justin Jefferson (1,400 receiving yards, 89 receptions, 7 touchdowns) of the Minnesota Vikings.

Against the Vikings, Jefferson had better stats (89 yards on three receptions and one touchdown) than Lamb (34 yards on four receptions, and one touchdown). However, Lamb had one of the best acrobatic, four –yard touchdown catches you will ever see.

What’s truly remarkable about Lamb’s rookie season is that he played with three different back-up quarterbacks and still came close to amassing 1,000 receiving yards. Rookie quarterback Ben DiNucci was a nonfactor, and Andy Dalton was a shell of himself as a franchise quarterback.

As a rookie, Lamb rarely made the routine rookie mistakes and played like a true veteran. There were games where Lamb out played Coop and Gallup in that he caught difficult passes, made key blocks and was all over the screen. Mind you, this with Dalton over and under throwing passes.

The aforementioned traits are why I have written articles about Dallas trading Gallup instead of Coop to shore up the defense because Lamb has a higher ceiling and will be better than Gallup. This is not a knock on Gallup because he’s definitely a good receiver who has improved since his rookie year, but Gallup benefits more from Coop and Lamb on the field than the other way around.