CFZ Why Cedee Lamb is good but not great…yet

[DogFace]

He doesn’t have a top end speed, suffers too many drops and doesn’t battle for the ball. He’s good after the catch, but hasn’t been as good after the catch as he was in college. Not sure he’ll ever develop into a great receiver but he is very good. He would make an excellent number two receiver or in the slot, but I’m not satisfied with him as the number one receiver.

Good points.

Doesn’t battle for the ball is the most glaring issue. Imo.

 

[USArmyVet]

Nowhere near the top-10?


He is in the top-10 in receptions, yards, and TDs right now and has had his QB for only 4 games

10th in receptions, 10th in yards, tied 9th in TD's......6th in targets.....and he has only 1 game of 100+ yards which was last week vs. GB......and I wouldn't put him as a Top 10 WR in the NFL.

 

[cnuball21]

He’s a solid #1 he just isn’t elite yet.

Also, go check out the guys that are and how they did their first 3 seasons. Most took 3/4 years until they took off.

Lamb is on a great progression and is tracking to be a top 5ish dude.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Cedee Lamb is a very good NFL wide receiver. I’m glad he’s a Cowboy and I look forward to seeing him continue to improve. But….he’s not yet the elite receiver he was drafted to be. He’s been good, just not great. Again, at least not yet.

Below are the reasons why in my opinion Cedee Lamb has not yet cracked the list of elite receivers. I would rank him perhaps top 20 but nowhere near the top 10.

• Finished 21st in receptions in 2021 with 79 receptions.
• Finished 16th in yards in 2021 with 1,102 yds.
• Finished 35th in TD receptions in 2021 with 6.
  
• Had a streak of 17 straight games without 100 yards or more in a game. (Had his first 100 yd game since last Oct last Sunday vs Pack)
• Went 9 straight games without a TD reception from 2021-22.
• His rookie season of 2020, he definitely had a good year- 74 receptions for 935 yds and 5 TDs. That’s very good for a rookie, but he finished 27th in receptions and 22nd in yards, 32nd in TDs.
• Has had a problem with drops in his first two years although it’s gotten better of late.
• Is known to be a lazy route runner who doesn’t make route adjustments crisply.
• Is excellent with yards after catch- finished top 5 last year.
  
• Doesn’t possess great speed but is very quick.

Bottom line for me- Lamb is a really good receiver. He’s at best a low end #1 or high end #2 receiver. But the above makes it clear to me, he’s not “elite”. Maybe he can develop more in several areas and become elite.

I’m hoping he continues to work hard to improve his game. He’s still only 24. I’m not knocking the guy but just being honest about what kind of receiver he is at this point. Good but not great.

he is a great #2....he is not a #1, specially with those iffy hands and inability to make the contested catches.

 

[khiladi]

Nowhere near the top-10?


He is in the top-10 in receptions, yards, and TDs right now and has had his QB for only 4 games

I think think this attests to his greatness as he has that very QB throwing to him..

 

[PAPPYDOG]

Cedee Lamb is a very good NFL wide receiver. I’m glad he’s a Cowboy and I look forward to seeing him continue to improve. But….he’s not yet the elite receiver he was drafted to be. He’s been good, just not great. Again, at least not yet.

Below are the reasons why in my opinion Cedee Lamb has not yet cracked the list of elite receivers. I would rank him perhaps top 20 but nowhere near the top 10.

• Finished 21st in receptions in 2021 with 79 receptions.
• Finished 16th in yards in 2021 with 1,102 yds.
• Finished 35th in TD receptions in 2021 with 6.
  
• Had a streak of 17 straight games without 100 yards or more in a game. (Had his first 100 yd game since last Oct last Sunday vs Pack)
• Went 9 straight games without a TD reception from 2021-22.
• His rookie season of 2020, he definitely had a good year- 74 receptions for 935 yds and 5 TDs. That’s very good for a rookie, but he finished 27th in receptions and 22nd in yards, 32nd in TDs.
• Has had a problem with drops in his first two years although it’s gotten better of late.
• Is known to be a lazy route runner who doesn’t make route adjustments crisply.
• Is excellent with yards after catch- finished top 5 last year.
  
• Doesn’t possess great speed but is very quick.

Bottom line for me- Lamb is a really good receiver. He’s at best a low end #1 or high end #2 receiver. But the above makes it clear to me, he’s not “elite”. Maybe he can develop more in several areas and become elite.

I’m hoping he continues to work hard to improve his game. He’s still only 24. I’m not knocking the guy but just being honest about what kind of receiver he is at this point. Good but not great.

A picture is worth a thousand words....

 

[WillieBeamen]

10th in receptions, 10th in yards, tied 9th in TD's......6th in targets.....and he has only 1 game of 100+ yards which was last week vs. GB......and I wouldn't put him as a Top 10 WR in the NFL.

Look at who is throwing to him

 

[Bobhaze]

When lamb gets targeted like a number one wide receiver then he will put up numbers like a number one wide receiver. The problem with Lamb's production right now is everything is going across the middle. He just ran his first seven route in his career last week. He is running a nine route about three times in 3 years. So you keep running everything across the middle and defenses are going to start the flood the middle. And I don't see why people keep blaming lamb or dag for our offensive struggles. Are they not paying attention to the play calling? Moore needs to stretch the defense on the outside. He needs to call deeper outside routes, while having a running back run a swing route to the same side. Just stop calling all of these pass plays across the middle in all of that traffic. We all know bad things happen across the middle... especially when your offensive coordinator isn't making the defense defender the whole field.

So Dak and Lamb's struggles come from our play caller. Dak and Lamb suck because defenses know what's coming.

I agree with you about our lack of creativity on offense. Our receivers mostly run routes that are the simplest to cover and have very little creativity. We seem to have the simplest route trees in the NFL.

Look at what the rams do with Cooper Kupp and their receivers. They “scheme them open” with routes that force defenders into difficult situations, often include subtle picks that make man coverage difficult and also makes “handing off” a receiver in certain zones very challenging. Our routes depend almost totally on the receivers’ individual effort.

Our offense could really use some new scheme wrinkles.

 

[Thomas82]

I agree with you about our lack of creativity on offense. Our receivers mostly run routes that are the simplest to cover and have very little creativity. We seem to have the simplest route trees in the NFL.

Look at what the rams do with Cooper Kupp and their receivers. They “scheme them open” with routes that force defenders into difficult situations, often include subtle picks that make man coverage difficult and also makes “handing off” a receiver in certain zones very challenging. Our routes depend almost totally on the receivers’ individual effort.

Our offense could really use some new scheme wrinkles.

All facts!!

 

[CowboyRoy]

10th in receptions, 10th in yards, tied 9th in TD's......6th in targets.....and he has only 1 game of 100+ yards which was last week vs. GB......and I wouldn't put him as a Top 10 WR in the NFL.

Your looking at a list with RB's and TE's in there. He is a little higher on those lists for receivers ONLY.

So the bottom line is that Lamb is in the top 10 in every major WR receiving category. That without a doubt makes him top 10. And he has done all this with Cooper Rush and our conservative offense for 6 games.

Personally I have him in the 2nd tier, but I dont consider him an elite or top 5 receiver at this point.

Those that have doubted lamb to this point are being proven wrong. He is a true #1 and is a top 10 #1.

 

[CowboyRoy]

he is a great #2....he is not a #1, specially with those iffy hands and inability to make the contested catches.

You dont want to admit it, but you have been proven dead wrong on Lamb. Lamb is top 10 in every major WR category. He is not only a true #1, but a top 10 #1 WR in the NFL. And he has done all this with the hapless Cooper Rush at QB for most of the year.

 

[CowboyRoy]

He’s a solid #1 he just isn’t elite yet.

Also, go check out the guys that are and how they did their first 3 seasons. Most took 3/4 years until they took off.

Lamb is on a great progression and is tracking to be a top 5ish dude.

Hes a top 10 #1. The numbers show this without a doubt. And this is with Cooper Rush at QB for most of the season. Had Dak been the QB for entire season all his numbers would probably be in the top 5.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Good points.

Doesn’t battle for the ball is the most glaring issue. Imo.

Its one of his strengths.

 

[xwalker]

Cedee Lamb is a very good NFL wide receiver. I’m glad he’s a Cowboy and I look forward to seeing him continue to improve. But….he’s not yet the elite receiver he was drafted to be. He’s been good, just not great. Again, at least not yet.

Below are the reasons why in my opinion Cedee Lamb has not yet cracked the list of elite receivers. I would rank him perhaps top 20 but nowhere near the top 10.

• Finished 21st in receptions in 2021 with 79 receptions.
• Finished 16th in yards in 2021 with 1,102 yds.
• Finished 35th in TD receptions in 2021 with 6.
  
• Had a streak of 17 straight games without 100 yards or more in a game. (Had his first 100 yd game since last Oct last Sunday vs Pack)
• Went 9 straight games without a TD reception from 2021-22.
• His rookie season of 2020, he definitely had a good year- 74 receptions for 935 yds and 5 TDs. That’s very good for a rookie, but he finished 27th in receptions and 22nd in yards, 32nd in TDs.
• Has had a problem with drops in his first two years although it’s gotten better of late.
• Is known to be a lazy route runner who doesn’t make route adjustments crisply.
• Is excellent with yards after catch- finished top 5 last year.
  
• Doesn’t possess great speed but is very quick.

Bottom line for me- Lamb is a really good receiver. He’s at best a low end #1 or high end #2 receiver. But the above makes it clear to me, he’s not “elite”. Maybe he can develop more in several areas and become elite.

I’m hoping he continues to work hard to improve his game. He’s still only 24. I’m not knocking the guy but just being honest about what kind of receiver he is at this point. Good but not great.

The only valid issue that you listed is route running.

Stats from years with Cooper as the #1 and Gallup playing 2020 and part of 2021 are not a good method to compare CeeDee to other NFL WRs.

He is as fast, maybe faster than Davante Adams.

Handheld times:
CeeDee Lamb 4.42
Justin Jefferson 4.43

He has less drops than multiple top rated WRs including Adams and Amari Cooper.

He has 1 more drop than Jefferson.

 

[Bobhaze]

He’s a solid #1 he just isn’t elite yet.

Also, go check out the guys that are and how they did their first 3 seasons. Most took 3/4 years until they took off.

Lamb is on a great progression and is tracking to be a top 5ish dude.

He certainly could. I’m hoping so. One thing that would greatly help his development would be giving him better scheme routes to run. We do all of our receivers no favors with routes that multiple defenders from multiple teams say are some of the easiest in the league to identify and cover.

 

[cnuball21]

The only valid issue that you listed is route running.

Stats from years with Cooper as the #1 and Gallup playing 2020 and part of 2021 are not a good method to compare CeeDee to other NFL WRs.

He is as fast, maybe faster than Davante Adams.

Handheld times:
CeeDee Lamb 4.42
Justin Jefferson 4.43

He has less drops than multiple top rated WRs including Adams and Amari Cooper.

He has 1 more drop than Jefferson.

Handheld times are completely irrelevant. He’s plenty fast for a guy his size but speed isn’t his calling card.

 

[Bobhaze]

The only valid issue that you listed is route running.

Stats from years with Cooper as the #1 and Gallup playing 2020 and part of 2021 are not a good method to compare CeeDee to other NFL WRs.

He is as fast, maybe faster than Davante Adams.

Handheld times:
CeeDee Lamb 4.42
Justin Jefferson 4.43

He has less drops than multiple top rated WRs including Adams and Amari Cooper.

He has 1 more drop than Jefferson.

Gonna have to disagree witcha on his speed times. At the 2020 NFL Combine, Lamb showed off his many skills, but his official 40 yard dash time was 4.51. Which was one reason he fell to the Cowboys at pick 17 that year. Again, I like Cedee Lamb. He has an excellent WR skill set. And he’s certainly fast enough. But speed would not be one of his top measureables.

 

[RobZ]

Cedee Lamb is a very good NFL wide receiver. I’m glad he’s a Cowboy and I look forward to seeing him continue to improve. But….he’s not yet the elite receiver he was drafted to be. He’s been good, just not great. Again, at least not yet.

Below are the reasons why in my opinion Cedee Lamb has not yet cracked the list of elite receivers. I would rank him perhaps top 20 but nowhere near the top 10.

• Finished 21st in receptions in 2021 with 79 receptions.
• Finished 16th in yards in 2021 with 1,102 yds.
• Finished 35th in TD receptions in 2021 with 6.
  
• Had a streak of 17 straight games without 100 yards or more in a game. (Had his first 100 yd game since last Oct last Sunday vs Pack)
• Went 9 straight games without a TD reception from 2021-22.
• His rookie season of 2020, he definitely had a good year- 74 receptions for 935 yds and 5 TDs. That’s very good for a rookie, but he finished 27th in receptions and 22nd in yards, 32nd in TDs.
• Has had a problem with drops in his first two years although it’s gotten better of late.
• Is known to be a lazy route runner who doesn’t make route adjustments crisply.
• Is excellent with yards after catch- finished top 5 last year.
  
• Doesn’t possess great speed but is very quick.

Bottom line for me- Lamb is a really good receiver. He’s at best a low end #1 or high end #2 receiver. But the above makes it clear to me, he’s not “elite”. Maybe he can develop more in several areas and become elite.

I’m hoping he continues to work hard to improve his game. He’s still only 24. I’m not knocking the guy but just being honest about what kind of receiver he is at this point. Good but not great.

Agreed.
I would like to see him a bit angry when he drops a pass rather than smilingly kid who just got away with something.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Your looking at a list with RB's and TE's in there. He is a little higher on those lists for receivers ONLY.

So the bottom line is that Lamb is in the top 10 in every major WR receiving category. That without a doubt makes him top 10. And he has done all this with Cooper Rush and our conservative offense for 6 games.

Personally I have him in the 2nd tier, but I dont consider him an elite or top 5 receiver at this point.

Those that have doubted lamb to this point are being proven wrong. He is a true #1 and is a top 10 #1.

Here’s a question of relativity: Michael Gallup is currently 149th in receiving yards. Do you believe there are 148 receivers in the nfl currently better than Michael Gallup?

 

[xwalker]

Handheld times are completely irrelevant. He’s plenty fast for a guy his size but speed isn’t his calling card.

NFL scouts prefer HH over electronic.

The electronic times were actually hand timed start and electronic finish until they changed to fully electronic about 10 years ago.

An electronic start is difficult to implement. Different player starting body positions and different player sizes can cause false timer starts. Many electronic times are adjusted afterwards because of this problem. The adjustments are an estimate.

That means some players electronic times are adjusted and others are not.

The best method would be to use high frame rate video.

There was a proposal to use a pad under the players that would sense when the player's weight was gone. That was not implemented because they didn't want to put something under the players. That type of system is also prone to reliability issues and requires frequent calibration.