An excellent prospect coming out of Oklahoma, few expected CeeDee Lamb to fall to the 17th pick in the NFL Draft, where Dallas pounced on him even though they had more significant needs on the defensive side of the ball. This was an excellent addition to an already fantastic offense. The Cowboys averaged more yards per play than any offense in the NFL last year and could now conceivably be even better. But for the purpose of this article, let’s examine CeeDee Lamb’s fantasy outlook in 2020.
Analyzing Lamb’s physical traits
In terms of Lamb’s physical traits, his long speed and explosiveness are more than adequate, but neither are his most distinguishing traits. That isn’t to say that Lamb can’t get deep, though, and by no means does he lack quickness.
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Where Lamb shines is as a contested catch receiver and after the catch, both of which that few compare. He shows rare competitiveness in both of these areas. His highlight reel of catches in traffic is jaw-dropping. Lamb shows rare ball skills and body control in these many instances.
And once Lamb gets the ball in his hands, he routinely shows excellent vision and physicality rarely seen from the wide receiver position after the catch. Lamb is an excellent prospect that should acclimate quickly as rookies go in these difficult times with limited practices.
Playing time shouldn’t be an issue. Targets might be.
While Lamb enters an offense that has great weapons, Dallas did lose Randall Cobb, who did a lot of work out of the slot last year. Mike McCarthy takes over as the Cowboys head coach, but Kellen Moore remains as the offensive coordinator.
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Cobb played about two-thirds of Dallas’ offensive snaps last year, but McCarthy’s recent history in Green Bay indicates that the Cowboys could use even more three receiver sets than they did a year ago. So, it doesn’t look like playing time should be a problem for Lamb.
Will there be enough targets to go around in the Cowboys offense?
But with Amari Cooper and the vastly underrated Michael Gallup already on board, Lamb could have a difficult time earning a large slice of Dallas’ pie in terms of target distribution. And that, in turn, could hurt Lamb’s fantasy outlook in 2020.
However, something that helps him and makes this offense extremely difficult to play against is all three of these highly talented receivers have a lot of alignment versatility. Cobb wasn’t equipped to line up on the outside a high percentage of the time, but he did still see 83 targets last year.
That isn’t true for any of these three, although Lamb is best out of the slot, and should allow McCarthy and Moore to scheme up high efficiency touches for all three receivers. But we also don’t have a good grasp of Dak Prescott’s relationship with Lamb either.
CeeDee Lamb’s fantasy ADP
According to Flea Flicker, the talented wide receiver is being drafted as the 97th player overall and the 38th wide receiver off the board, which makes Lamb’s fantasy outlook very close to being a starting wide receiver in 12 team leagues in which three receivers are started.
A few players at Lamb’s position that are going right before him are Marvin Jones and Will Fuller. Emmanuel Sanders, Christian Kirk, John Brown, and fellow first-round rookie Jerry Jeudy are coming off the board directly after Lamb.
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This neighborhood in which Lamb is being selected in fantasy football drafts makes perfect sense. That being said, Jones and Fuller, who is just an utter steal and someone you must target well before his 86th overall ADP, are superior options.
Jones and Fuller and known commodities with a more significant piece of their team’s passing pie and higher ceilings. Lamb has more fantasy value and a much better quarterback and situation than Jeudy, but it is tough to judge him against Sanders, Kirk, and Brown.
When should I draft CeeDee Lamb in my fantasy football draft?
To get Lamb on your fantasy team, you almost have to draft him as if he is a starter. Doing so could certainly pay off, and it wouldn’t be too shocking if the difference between Dallas’ three wideouts is much narrower than most imagine. But that being said, go in a different direction rather than pouncing on Lamb at the 7th/8th round turn.