With the 17th pick in the 2020 NFL draft the Cowboys select Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb …
CeeDee Lamb Career Statistics
| Year | Age | Rec | Team % | ReYds | Team % | ReTD | Team % | Yds/TmAtt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 18.8 | 46 | 14.88% | 807 | 15.93% | 7 | 14.89% | 1.86 |
| 2018 | 19.8 | 65 | 23.72% | 1158 | 25.61% | 11 | 25.58% | 2.89 |
| 2019 | 20.8 | 62 | 23.66% | 1327 | 31.86% | 14 | 38.88% | 3.49 |
Lamb’s resume is top-notch and he produced at a young age. In three years at Oklahoma, he accounted for 3,292 receiving yards and 32 touchdowns. His 19.0 yards per reception over his collegiate career is the highest among wideouts in this class. At age 19 in 2018, Lamb posted 65-1,1158-11 playing alongside the top wide receiver selected in the NFL draft in Marquise Brown.
In 2019, Lamb led all wideouts in touchdowns from outside of the red zone (19) while finishing third in yards per team pass attempt (3.49 yards) among wideouts in this draft class. He turned 22.6% of his receptions in 2019 into touchdowns, which was also the highest rate for any wideout in this class.
Watch all 15 of CeeDee Lamb’s touchdowns in his final season at Oklahoma.
He’s good. pic.twitter.com/4cwhmHaLVp
— James Simpson (@JS_Football) April 2, 2020
Playing in a Lincoln Riley offense in the Big 12 Conference, it would be easy to see a talent like Lamb have a plethora of easy, wide open and walk-in scores, but that is not the case. He generated a lot of touchdowns after the catch, which is the highlight of his game. Averaging 9.2 yards after the catch over the past two seasons and ranking second in forced missed tackles for all wideouts a year ago, Lamb is a playmaker with the football and has a sprinkling of return usage with 475 career punt return yardage.
Landing in Dallas, Lamb has to immediately compete for targets with Amari Cooper, who Dallas just extended this offseason, and Michael Gallup, who combined for 38.7% of the Dallas targets in 2019. Dallas did have thin depth behind them while losing their slot receiver via free agency when Randall Cobb joined the Texans. Cobb was tied for third on the team in targets a year ago with 83 (14.4% of the team share).
One thing this does do is allow Cooper to play more in the slot. Since joining the Cowboys, Cooper has run just 14.8% of his routes from the slot. But from the slot for his career, he’s averaged 2.4 yards per route run as opposed to 1.8 yards per route on the outside. Adding versatility to their lead wideout gives the offense a new dynamic.
The biggest immediate winner is still Dak Prescott, who gets another playmaker at his disposal. The Cowboys placed the franchise tag on quarterback Prescott this offseason. Even though the two sides have yet to work out an official long term contract, Prescott remains in the Cowboys plans to lead the franchise for the immediate future.
