Dallas Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb had a breakout 2021 season, showing clear development over his rookie 2020 campaign. Lamb was impressive enough to make top receiver Amari Cooper expendable in the offseason.
With Lamb now lining up as the Cowboys’ number-one receiver, he is in position for a huge campaign in 2022.
Speaking on the Open Mike Podcast with Mike Silver, Lamb said that he found out about the Cooper trade the same way many fans did — breaking news on the television.
“I was actually in the gym. I saw it. It was on TV. I was working out in Fort Lauderdale in my offseason program, and I saw it on TV, and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy,'” Lamb said. “And then my phone started blowing up literally minutes after. It’s been a crazy story ever since.”
The Cowboys elected to send Cooper packing, netting only a fifth-round pick and a sixth-round swap in exchange while alleviating the team of a significant salary-cap hit.
Cooper’s production significantly declined in 2021 after three consecutive 1,000+ yard seasons. He hauled in only 68 passes on 104 attempts after racking up 92 receptions in 2020 with less-than-optimal quarterbacks under center for most of the season.
Lamb made 79 receptions in 2021 on 120 targets and netted 1,102 yards and six touchdowns.
Lamb was at his best in October, with the longest reception of the season coming against the rival New York Giants and then back-to-back 100+ yard games for the first time in his career.
His total targets dropped off at the end of the season as the Cowboys’ offense leaned harder on Cooper and other receivers.
Now, as the expected WR1 in the lineup, Lamb said the pressure to perform is a driving factor for him to excel at his position.
“I feel like that’s a situation I’m ready to take on,” he said. “Honestly, it kind of, in a sense, raised the standard. Obviously, I hold myself to a high standard already, but obviously, at this moment, there’s nothing else you can really do but take it on. That’s the energy I have.”
Lamb will be joined by one of the youngest receiving corps in the NFL. The Cowboys have only three receivers currently on the roster that have been in the NFL longer than Lamb, starting with James Washington, drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft.
Michael Gallup will also be on the roster but is expected to miss the first two or three weeks of the season as he recovers from an ACL tear suffered at the end of the 2021 season. He was a third-round selection in 2018. The Cowboys’ oldest receiver will be Noah Brown, a seventh-round pick in 2017.
The vast majority of receivers remaining are rookies, with Simi Fehoko being the exception. Fehoko is in his second year and has bounced between the practice squad and the active roster. He has yet to catch a pass in a game.
The move to WR1 will likely mean an increase in attention from defenders, something that quarterback Dak Prescott said will ultimately help Lamb develop as a player.
“You look at a guy like CeeDee and what he’s done in his first two years; it’s exciting,” Prescott said on NBC Sports. “He hasn’t really scratched the surface. Just for him to be the one, to be the main guy, I know he’s going to be ready for it. I know he’s already doing the things he needs to do that are necessary to have a great season.”