Breaking Down CeeDee Lamb's Rookie Season
Everyone is well-aware of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb's talent after his exciting rookie season. He put together a really nice year, even without Dak Prescott as his Quarterback for most of the season. The Oklahoma product compiled 953 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns on 74 receptions. Additionally, Lamb averaged 12.6 yards per catch. […]
Everyone is well-aware of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb's talent after his exciting rookie season. He put together a really nice year, even without Dak Prescott as his Quarterback for most of the season. The Oklahoma product compiled 953 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns on 74 receptions. Additionally, Lamb averaged 12.6 yards per catch. On the ground, he added 82 yards on 10 carries with another TD. He even sealed a win with a special teams return TD.
Most of that receiving production technically came in the window of the season once Prescott had gone done with his season-ending injury. Although, two of the five games that Dak played in were 100-yard performances for Lamb. Those were Lamb's only 100-yard games, and he just looked more explosive. CeeDee had 433 yards through those first five contests and averaged 86.6 YPG. The games with Andy Dalton at QB? His YPG fell to 45.6. That is not bad by any means for a rookie receiver in a crowded WR room, but there was a stark difference.
Overall, What does that mean? Cowboys fans should expect an uptick in Lamb's production in 2021 since Dak should be back and healthy. Prescott is a better deep ball thrower than Dalton which could certainly make that YPC number rise for CeeDee. Plus, he certainly has had more time with his receivers to get their timing down together than Dalton did after entering mid-season. A peculiar 2020 off-season schedule probably didn't do too many favors for the QB2 and his targets, either. That will most likely change in 2021 with Prescott back at the helm.
Lamb's numbers point to him having a very bright future ahead, folks. For reference, here are the rookie season statistics for some of the biggest star wide receivers in the league compared to Lamb's. (Receptions-Yards-Touchdowns)
- CeeDee Lamb: 74-953-5
- DeAndre Hopkins: 52-802-2
- Tyreek Hill: 61-593-6
- Davante Adams: 38-446-3
- Keenan Allen: 71-1,046-8
- Stefon Diggs: 52-720-4 (13 games)
Now, of course, there are some outliers like Odell Beckham Jr. and Michael Thomas. Those guys went for 90+ catches, over 1,000 yards, and 9+ TDs in their rookie years. That does not happen very often at all. Not to mention, Julio Jones' stats are very comparable to Lamb's as well, although he only played thirteen games that season. These stats go to show how it normally does take some time for receivers to work up to being the cream of the crop.
Also, don't forget about the talent that is in the receiving room for the Cowboys. Other highly-touted rookie receivers have faced that problem as well. That led to their numbers early in their careers mimicking Lamb's quite a bit. Sharing targets with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup as well as Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard out of the backfield may prevent super flashy statistics. That does raise the question of if the Cowboys should attempt to trade Gallup in the off-season if they do not plan on signing him long-term. That's a discussion for another day, though. Nonetheless, CeeDee's abilities always make him a threat no matter who else is on the field.
CeeDee is primed for a sophomore season that is even better than his rookie one, which was impressive itself. In other words, Dallas fans, don't be sheep – get excited for the Lamb!
Featured Image via USA TODAY-Sports
