This Dallas Cowboys offseason has made one thing abundantly clear: CeeDee Lamb is the team’s definitive WR1. During his opening OTAs media session, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott vocalized this belief not only by expressing confidence in Lamb but requesting the receiver’s locker be moved next to his own.
“My two other locker mates left, so I was a little lonely,” Prescott explained during a May 25, 2022 interview, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “With him being young, hopefully he’s my WR until I’m done playing. Just bring him closer, more conversations, he’s right there to talk and communicate.”
Prescott also went public about his desire for Lamb to be with the Cowboys “until I’m done playing.” This could also be seen as a reaction to star receiver Amari Cooper being traded to the Browns this offseason.
“He’s the guy,” Prescott said, per Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken. “Just being young, hopefully he’s my receiver until I’m done playing.”
ALL the latest Dallas Cowboys news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Cowboys newsletter here!
Lamb Was in Favor of the Locker Move
Dak Prescott to Ceedee Lamb for the win. The #Cowboys have won 5 straight.
They’re for real.
Prescott and Lamb are hoping that having close proximity to each other will lead to success on the field. Lamb noted that he was in favor of the move but admitted that it was Prescott’s idea initially.
“Actually, Dak did, he was here before me, but then like we had talked weeks prior before actually we all [had] to be here,” Lamb told reporters on May 25. “But yeah we kind of came together like, ‘I need to be next to him.’ And we got to get this ball rolling.”
As for the upcoming season, Lamb pointed to the most obvious next step of advancing in the playoffs, not simply having regular-season success. Lamb emphasized that the Cowboys need to “show out in the postseason.”
“Looking at just keep building up what we already started,” Lamb detailed. “Obviously, I don’t like to talk about the past, but in the past we’ve kind of had a bit of success offensively. Moving the ball, scoring touchdowns, but we got to show out in the postseason and put it all together.”
Cowboys Believe Lamb Is ‘Ready to Be the No. 1 Guy’
Lamb’s presence on the team made the Cowboys’ decision to trade Cooper a bit easier. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy outlined why he believes Lamb is ready “to be the No. 1 guy.”
“He has to [embrace being the No. 1 receiver], of course, yeah, I mean, he looks great,” McCarthy remarked during his May 25 press conference. “But yeah, this is a great opportunity for him personally, and I think just the way we’ve established the offense, particularly the passing game. The ability for those guys to play different positions, to create matchups and make it harder on the defense to double you and those types of things.
“My point is him playing in the slot a lot last year and now playing the flanker position, so yes. And we understand with his rise in year three that he’s gonna get a lot more attention from the defense, but he’s doing all the little things that are needed to get him ready to be the No. 1 guy.”
Comments
Dak Prescott Pushed Cowboys for Change, Sends Strong Message to CeeDee Lamb