When CeeDee Lamb fell to the Dallas Cowboys at Pick 17 in the 2020, the Cowboys knew they were getting a steal. Labeled the best receiver in the draft class by multiple draft sites, Lamb was the complete package at WR.
Even though Dallas was fairly loaded at the position already, the Cowboys knew he was too good to pass up and added him to their stable that already included Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. Since picking him that fateful April night, the Cowboys have boasted one of the best (if not THE best) WR corps in the NFL.
Until this year…
Will CeeDee Lamb be able to take that next step and establish himself as one of the NFL’s most elite WRs?
This offseason the Dallas Cowboys controversially decided to trade Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns for nothing but a fifth round pick. The move cleared plenty of cap space but it left Cooper-sized hole on offense.
With Gallup nursing back from a torn ACL, the Dallas Cowboys WR room is going to start the season a shell of their former selves. It will be on CeeDee Lamb to carry the load and lead an unproved pass-catching squad into the 2022 season.
Say what you will about Amari’s disappointing tenure in Dallas, but he was WR1 through and through. Teams respected and feared him and he opened opportunities for others along the way. That’s how Kellen Moore‘s offense is designed to work. The Cowboys offense doesn’t decide who’s getting the ball, they make defenses decide. So when the defense shifts all their focus on Amari, it’s Lamb who stands to profit.
Amari Cooper was just on the air with @dfwticket. Asked if CeeDee Lamb is ready to step into the Cowboys’ WR1 spot, I thought his answer was very interesting. For multiple reasons. pic.twitter.com/3vR0ZADfnn
— David Helman (@davidhelman_) July 22, 2022
This can be seen as both good an bad. It’s good if you have a plethora of weapons and have a decision-maker who identify the best match-ups. It’s bad if you want to boost the production of a single play-maker.
When pressed Amari Cooper lays it out in the above tweet. He says CeeDee is ready to take that next step he just essentially needs the opportunity. Opportunities like we see Deebo Samuel get in San Fran, of Cooper Kupp get in LA, or Kelce get in KC. Those play-makers are schemed for by their play designers.
That’s not to say Kellen Moore never schemes for specific players, it’s just that it’s not his M.O. Like we stated earlier, that’s great if you have weapons and an elite decision-maker but if either of those two are missing, it’s probably not-so-great. Looking at the weapons heading into 2022, we’re in the “not-so-great territory.”
The good news is Kellen Moore seems to switch up big things every offseason. Just because he didn’t scheme players open much in the past does not mean he won’t in the future. And looking at the Cowboys roster heading into Week 1, that very well could be a philosophical change that’s in the works.
CeeDee Lamb is a great WR but he hasn’t posted the numbers to be in top-10 conversations. If Kellen Moore adjusts to his roster and starts scheming to give CeeDee more opportunities, we could see Lamb break into that elite threshold. If Kellen sticks to the status quo, I’m not very optimistic.