After five weeks, the new-look Dallas Cowboys boast one of the NFL's top offenses. That's a lot to say from a team that has been without star wideout CeeDee Lamb since Week 3, while giving fans hope that the Cowboys' attack will reach even greater heights when he returns.
Lamb hasn't practiced with the team since his injury, but since he wasn't placed on injured reserve, it shouldn't be much longer before we see him back on the field. That's obviously great news for head coach Brian Schottenheimer, but it might also be a bit of a challenge when it comes to his philosophy about spreading out the football ahead of Sunday's game vs. the Carolina Panthers.
“I don’t really call plays to try to get a ball to a spot on the field. I call plays to get balls to people," Schottenheimer said, per The Athletic's Jon Machota. "You’re always going to feature your ‘elite players.’ We have a lot of elite players."
He then praised Dak Prescott for doing a good job of feeding everybody, saying, “Dak is doing an incredible job of reading progressions. And the first open guy is gonna get the ball, and I think that’s what you’re seeing."
Brian Schottenheimer Can't Keep Everyone Happy When CeeDee Lamb Returns
Spreading the ball out is great, in theory, but it likely won't be a realistic goal when the Cowboys' WR1 returns to action. Through the first two games of the season, Lamb drew 24 targets, and he hauled in 16 receptions for 222 yards with no touchdowns. That's still the third-most receiving yards on the team despite missing three games, which speaks volumes about how much Dallas leans on him.
Without Lamb, Prescott found nine different pass-catchers in the Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears. He then found eight different players in a 40-point effort vs. the Green Bay Packers, and six different receivers in the 37-22 win over the New York Jets.
That's not to say that Lamb shouldn't get double digits in targets and catches when he returns, but history hasn't been on Prescott's side when he's tried to force-feed him the ball. Perhaps that's why the Cowboys traded for George Pickens, as they realized it might be better to take some pressure off of Lamb's shoulders.
Now, if Ryan Flournoy picks up things where he left them in Week 5, and if KaVontae Turpin continues to have a featured role once he gets back to full strength, the Cowboys might be better off spreading touches all over the pass-catching corps as opposed to leaning heavily on Lamb. That's without mentioning the likes of Jalen Tolbert and Jonathan Mingo, or even tight end Jake Ferguson, who's been having a tremendous season.
It'll be interesting to see what Schottenheimer does when Lamb returns. On the one hand, spreading out the ball has paid off. On the other hand, continuing to do so could risk upsetting No. 88, especially if he wants his target count to match the lofty price tag he's carrying.
Whichever direction he leans in, Cowboys fans are just hoping that Schottenheimer will do whatever is best for the team if it means capitalizing on their early momentum.