Dallas Cowboys: 5 major gambles that will determine their season

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

Dallas Cowboys Gamble No. 3: WHAT IF CEEDEE LAMB LOCKS IN?

Many disagree with the decision by the front office to trade Amari Cooper. However, it opens the door for third year receiver CeeDee Lamb to blossom into the potential super star the Cowboys believe him to be.

There’s going to be two factors that will determine whether or not Lamb can go from an 80 catch, 1,100 yard, 6 TD player to one teams fear. A guy who can put up closer to 100/1,400/13.

The most obvious improvement Lamb will have to make is correcting his issue with drops.

No one is even sure where this problem came from. This wasn’t even in existence at Oklahoma. Yet, in his first two seasons Lamb has accumulated 16 dropped passes, per Pro Football Reference.

Is this a focus issue? None can be sure, but even though it’s been apart of his game for the first two years of his career, it still feels quite out of character.

Granted, his drop rate did tick down from 2020 (7.2%) to 2021 (6.7%) but it’s not a significant enough improvement. It’s understandable that drops will happen, but this game is all about consistency and ideally Lamb would need to cut that rate down closer to what we saw from Amari Cooper during his time with the Cowboys, anywhere from 2.3%-4.2%. This, in it’s nature, would improve Lamb’s overall production.

The other oddity we saw from Lamb was the occasional miscommunication with Quarterback Dak Prescott.

You can see in the play above Lamb is in the clear, but turning his head outside instead of inside caused the play to fall apart. It’s hard to know what actually takes place on a play like this. It’s tough to know who’s really at fault, but Lamb tells us it’s on him. And this isn’t the only example.

There’s no question in order for Lamb to take the next step in becoming an All Pro caliber WR he’ll need to fine tune his craft.

THE MOST LIKELY OUTCOME:

The Dallas Cowboys front office believes in CeeDee Lamb. The team and fans believe in him as well. To have 1,100 yards with eight drops and a number of miscommunications with your quarterback speaks volumes to the potential of the player.

We’ve seen the bulk Lamb has put on. The plan is, without question, to feature 88 more in the Cowboys offense. Perhaps even seeing more handoffs from the backfield. Regardless, all signs point to CeeDee Lamb becoming what the Dallas Cowboys have always envisioned him to be. A star.