The Cowboys made it clear before the season that CeeDee Lamb was to be the featured No. 1 wide-out for this offense moving forward. Coming off a plus 1,000-yard season in 2021 with six touchdowns, the new 88 looked to be ready to be the guy in Dallas.
Halfway through 2022 Lamb has put together a respectable year with 535 yards and three touchdowns and leads the Cowboys in receiving en route to their 6-2 record, but has yet to go over 100 yards in a game.
Wide receivers with a 20%+ target share in all seven weeks of the NFL season:
1. DJ Moore
2. CeeDee Lamb— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) October 23, 2022
The big question is how does CeeDee stack up to other featured wide receivers across the league in his first season as the clear No. 1 in Dallas?
Overall, Lamb is top 20 in total yards and yards a game with 69.5. Lamb is averaging just over 13 yards a reception and has a total of 42 receptions on 73 targets for the year. Compare that to guys like Ja’Marr Chase, A.J. Brown, and Justin Jefferson and what do you get?
Starting with Jefferson who was taken after CeeDee in the 2020 draft. Jefferson is second in the NFL in receiving with 867 yards but is tied with Lamb with three touchdowns. He averages over 100 yards a game and is averaging almost 15 yards a reception.
In the battle for the best receiver in the NFC East, A.J. Brown has Lamb beat with 43 receptions for 718 yards and six touchdowns.
The comparison Cowboys fans are most interested in is Amari Cooper, who the Cowboys let out the door partially because of Lamb’s presence; the comparison is almost identical.
Cooper has 553 yards on 39 receptions to Lamb’s 42 for 535. Cooper does have Lamb beat in touchdowns with five, but Lamb has boosted an extra 80 yards after the catch. Other than this, the two are eerily similar across the board.
They are tied in first downs, separated by less than half a yard in yards a game, and separated by one in explosive plays.
Through eight games this season, CeeDee is a top 15-20 wide receiver in the NFL. It is worth mentioning Lamb has only played three games with his QB1, in that since Prescott’s return, Lamb has 9 receptions for 147 yards averaging 16 yards a reception during that time.
As a No. 1 option, Lamb does stack up to the likes of Cooper, Chase, and D.K. Metcalf. But just hasn’t had the statistical output of a Jefferson, Brown, or obviously Tyreek Hill. To this point, Lamb is not in that elite receiver club but is on pace for back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.
Take out from this information what you will, but Lamb undoubtedly has shown flashes of being a top receiver in the league, is only 23 years old, and has emerged as the second-best receiver in a stacked 2020 draft class behind Justin Jefferson.
