CeeDee Lamb had all the expectations in the world placed on him when the Dallas Cowboys selected him 17th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. In addition to that, he had the challenge of making a name for himself playing alongside Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, who both had over 1,100 yards in 2019.
The first-rounder didn’t waste any time making an impact when the Cowboys finally took the field in practice. He was so good that the staff writers for DallasCowoboys.com named him the top receiver in training camp. The rookie sensation hasn’t disappointed through the first nine games, and his stellar play landed him seventh on Daniel Jeremiah from NFL.com’s top 25 rookies list at the midseason point.
Jeremiah had this to say when evaluating Lamb.
“Lamb can play inside and outside. He’s shown tremendous concentration and toughness to work in traffic.”
Lamb showed in the first six games of the season that the Cowboys had yet another receiver who could be a top option on any team around the league. He had at least five passes in each which included two 100-yard performances vs the Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants.
Unfortunately for the talented rookie, Quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle and was lost for the season in Week 5 and his numbers have dropped because of it. This included a Week 7 game vs the Washington Football Team when Lamb was targeted five times but didn’t haul in a single catch, and he also had two drops. He voiced his frustration to the media afterward about not playing well.
“Very frustrating. I don’t even know what else to say,” Lamb said. “It’s frustrating on my part, and I definitely didn’t do my job. Had one too many drops, couldn’t contribute to the offense, couldn’t contribute to any yards and you saw it out there today.”
These types of games are expected at some point for any player, especially a rookie. Nonetheless, he still ranks amongst the league’s best in several categories. He leads the NFL in receiving yards from the slot with 557. He’s tops in the league with 13 receptions of 15 yards or more in the slot and is tied for first with 27 targets on 3rd and 4th down so far. Also, his 44 receptions lead all rookies and his 595 yards rank second (Justin Jefferson, 627).
There’s no ceiling for how good Lamb can be. The scary thing for defenses around the NFL is that this is only year one, so it’s only the beginning of his dominance.
