Fantasy Football: CeeDee Lamb primed for success with Dallas Cowboys

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb gives the Dallas Cowboys another exciting offensive playmaker and comes with bold fantasy football implications.

As the Dallas Cowboys sat on the clock with their 17th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, one glaring name positioned itself at the top of Dallas’ draft board: University of Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Dallas miraculously saw of the top seven players on their draft board fall into their laps at No. 17 — and fantasy football owners around the world began to salivate.

“I think that was really surprising to us to see Lamb sitting there. We went through a lot of mock drafts, and I can tell you he wasn’t a part of any of them just because we felt like he was a Top 10 player in this draft and we’d never see him”, Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones told reporters (via 247 Sports), further explaining that drafting Lamb was “a blinking light”.

Lamb steps in alongside fellow receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, who finished as fantasy football’s seventh-highest scoring receiver (WR7) and WR20, respectively, last year. Lamb gives franchise quarterback Dak Prescott an explosive player that can work all areas of the field and run after the catch. Ezekiel Elliott, RB4 in fantasy for 2019, is also likely to benefit from Lamb’s presence, as defenses may less frequently stack the box.

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New head coach Mike McCarthy is expected to adhere to a less run-heavy style than Dallas fans have been used to. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore played a key role in the Cowboys ranking sixth in points scored in 2020, and McCarthy expressed excitement in working with him to add wrinkles into their gameplan.

Last year, Dallas ran 11 personnel 67 percent of the time, per PFF (subscription required). In 2020, expect this percentage to be even higher, as Dallas debatably has the strongest wide receiver trio in the league heading into the season.

Lamb could step into the slot receiver role and immediately have an impact. After Randall Cobb’s departure to the Houston Texans, Lamb brings an elevated skillset to the slot position that Dallas has not had in decades.

In his 2018-19 season with the Sooners, Lamb was more than comfortable working the slot, generating a passer rating of 150.8 and producing 25 plays of 15+ yards on only 57 targets, per PFF. His physicality and toughness is clear in his elite ball skills. Lamb’s career contested-catch rate is 51.2 percent, roughly 10 percentage points higher than the NCAA average over that span, per PFF.

Once he has the ball in his hands, Lamb has elite run-after-catch ability. In 2019, he broke 26 tackles on 62 catches, averaging 11 yards after the catch per reception, per PFF. His run-after-catch ability is what made him the top-ranked wide receiver on many teams’ draft boards.

With Dallas, Lamb does not have the pressure of being the WR1 right away. His talent can help elevate the fantasy status of his offensive running mates, particularly Prescott and Elliott. To get a framework for Lamb’s fantasy capabilities in 2020, we could look at how key rookie wide receivers panned out in 2019.

AJ Brown was the top rookie receiver, finishing as WR10, followed by Terry McLaurin at WR24, Deebo Samuel, WR26, and D.K. Metcalf, WR30. It can be reasonable to expect Lamb to see a higher usage than these players based on skillset and situation. Do not be shocked if Lamb joins his teammate Cooper as one a top-10 receiver in fantasy football for 2020 and potentially work his way to Offensive Rookie of the Year contention.