When the bossman slid this Dallas Cowboys topic across my proverbial desk, you better believe I didn’t think I would have to talk about this. Not saying that I wouldn’t, but as the offseason trends closer and closer to training camp – as well as closing in on full-blown fantasy draft season – the topic has been heating up. And to be honest, rightfully so.
Dallas Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb has been getting a ton of hype this offseason as he heads into the new year as one of the best second-year prospects to have a potential breakout season. Shoot, Dak Prescott himself said that Lamb is due for a breakout year. If the Dallas Cowboys QB is backing that statement, who am I to disagree with him?
CeeDee Lamb Vs. Amari Cooper
Let’s be real. It’s not like Dak Prescott is blowing smoke or anything when talking about Lamb’s breakout potential. Last season prior to Prescott’s season-ending injury, Lamb was on pace to crack nearly 1,400 receiving yards. Don’t believe me? Let’s check the math real quick. Now I know some will say, “But Will, Dak went down during the Week 5 game against the Giants. How can you count that?”.
At first, I wasn’t. My original estimations are based on the production over the first four weeks with Dak Prescott on the field. With that, Lamb was averaging 77.3 yards a game which would be 1,236 receiving yards over a 16-game span (116 targets). Something told me to check the play-by-play for the Giants game. During that game, Dak Prescott went down late in the 3rd quarter.
Prior to that, Prescott had thrown to CeeDee Lamb nine times for a 7/114 line. Once Andy Dalton came in for the injured Prescott, Lamb would only see two more targets the rest of the game – going 1 of 2 for 10 yards.
If you factor in the five weeks of production, that would give Lamb an 86.6 yards-a-game average. That puts him well above the 1,236 yards mark and makes it to 1,386 receiving yards; just behind Justin Jefferson‘s finish but cementing Lamb as the bonafide number two rookie wide receiver from the 2020 NFL Draft class. With Dak Prescott returning from his compound fracture and likely heading into training camp with no restrictions, the ceiling may very well get blown off the roof for Lamb in 2021.
Don’t Forget About Cooper
Even with Lamb’s fantasy stock likely to continue to rise as we head into August, let’s not forget about the OG, Amari Cooper.
Cooper has been a wide receiver that some have been willing to put the “Ol Yeller” treatment to this offseason for goofy reasons. Some have wanted the Dallas Cowboys to trade Amari Cooper in order to get out of his contract, or move him to bring in a piece to help the defensive side of the ball.
But has anyone ever stopped to think that Amari Cooper’s presence is one of the reasons that Lamb is able to be dominant? Now hear what I’m not saying. That’s not a shot at Lamb to say that he isn’t talented. That would be a mistake. But having Cooper on the field allows defenses to key in on one of Prescott’s favorite targets in the Cowboys’ passing attack.
Trade Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup for Julio Jones. https://t.co/nvusmcwGOI
— Rigo✭ (@RigoSon51) May 23, 2021
Let’s also not forget that Lamb wasn’t the only one that benefitted from having Dak Prescott on the field last season. Cooper himself was on pace to have a tremendous year too. Over the same five-game span of 2020, Cooper was on pace for 1,358 receiving yards as he averaged 84.8 yards a game.
This despite Cooper having an ‘okay’ Week 5 against the Giants, as he had to contend with cornerback James Bradberry; who the Cowboys opted to stay away from most of the game. Cooper saw just four targets, going 2 of 4 for just 23 yards.
Prior to the Dak injury, Cooper was averaging 11 targets a game. That would have been an insane pace as well, totaling 176 targets on the season. It’s not hard to believe it could have been possible either, as the Cowboys fielded a historically bad defense last year.
The Final Verdict
Honestly, you can’t go wrong with either wide receiver this season. The Dallas Cowboys under Dak Prescott will be one of the better passing attacks and overall better offenses in the league. Returning to full health (and hopefully staying that way for most of the season) should help in a big way.
So who will be the main benefactor in the offense going forward? In terms of who’s the better of the two wide receivers, I have to lean with Amari Cooper.
Again, it has nothing to do with talent, because both have that in spades. Looking at their production from last season, Cooper would have likely beat Lamb in PPR formats at the pace they were going at with Dak Prescott under center. Cooper managed to finish above Lamb last season in fantasy points (236.8/211.7).
As mentioned earlier, Cooper could’ve seen a substantial amount of targets over Lamb last season had Dak played the entire year. Both players’ stats are fairly similar inside the red zone too which means both will get plenty of work in that area of the field. For example, inside the redzone, Amari Cooper saw 15 targets to Lamb’s 11; and he caught one more touchdown than Lamb in that part of the field (4/3).
Per Fantasy Football Calculator, both receivers’ ADP sits at the 4.05 spot. While I’d be a betting man and say that more will reach for CeeDee Lamb (which will boost his average draft position heading into draft season), Cooper is the one that will continue to see more of the team’s target share for the Cowboys. This is a wonderful problem for fantasy managers and the Cowboys to have this season.
