RACK UP LAMB
Dallas rook making it look as easy as A-B-CeeDee
LIFE is full of surprises. Like, Washington’s amazing Week 1 rally against the Eagles, or some people not thinking masks help during a pandemic, or it looks like Robert Pattinson is going to be fine playing Batman.
Or CeeDee Lamb was going to be an instant success in a crowded Dallas offense.
Rookie wide receivers often have a hard time making an immediate impact. For every Randy
Moss or Michael Thomas, there is a collection of Davante Adamses or
Julio Joneses or Chris Godwins — receivers who were always fine-to-good in their rookie seasons, but still had a way to go before becoming fantasy stars.
Lamb entered in a season that had no traditional offseason, no preseason, getting what should have been crippling few reps compared to normal — and as we’ve said, normal is no picnic.
And he joined an offense with an array of weapons — from running back Ezekiel Elliott to top wideout Amari Cooper to QB Dak Prescott himself. They had an up-and-coming tight end in Blake Jarwin and another young receiver in Michael Gallup who presumably were ahead of Lamb in the pecking order.
But that isn’t what has happened. Jarwin went down early in Week 1. Gallup has been slow out of the gate. And Lamb has looked electric with the ball. He looks equipped to continue the Cowboys’ tradition of stellar No. 88s — from Drew Pearson to Michael Irvin to Dez Bryant.
Lamb is second on the team in targets with 15 (Cooper has 23). Lamb is second with 11 receptions (Cooper, 16). He is second in yardage with 165 (Cooper, 181). This is where we thought Gallup would be. Instead, the third-year wideout also trails Elliot and backup tight end Dalton Schultz in targets and has just five total catches.
If you can’t adapt to new environments, you are doomed to extinction. The Madman isn’t too stubborn to adapt. So we have evolved, and are now hopping on the CeeDee Hype Train.
Sunday he gets a great matchup against a Seattle defense that has been surprisingly weak against the pass. They gave up 450 yards to Matt Ryan in Week 1 — which included nine-catch, 100-yard games by three (three!) different receivers.
Last week, Cam Newton threw for 397 yards, his highest total since his second career start in 2011. Julian Edelman had a monster game, (eight catches for 179 yards), and both Damiere Byrd and N’Keal Harry racked up 72 yards on six and eight grabs, respectively.
Including the playoffs, the Seahawks have given up at least 24 points 14 times in 19 games. This is not the Legion of Boom.
So, needless to say, we expect plenty of points in this game. And the more real-life points, the more fantasy points. And considering the amount of targets Lamb is getting in the Cowboys’ offense, he will undoubtedly play a significant role. Don’t keep him stashed on your bench this week.