Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb ranked above Amari Cooper and others by PFF

In today’s NFL, it’s a quarterback-heavy game and wide receivers help those QBs achieve their greatness. There are several top-tier wide receivers in the league today, and some of them are starting to earn paychecks that show just how valuable they are. In a league with talent like Davante Adams, Cooper Kupp, and Tyreek Hill, it can be tough to stand out. That’s especially the case for the Dallas Cowboys‘ young wide receiver, CeeDee Lamb.

After the Cowboys opted to trade or get rid of three of their receivers this offseason, the expectations on the 23-year-old’s shoulders are quite heavy. However, his impressive first two years in the league seem to show that he has the capability to step into the WR1 role that Amari Cooper once held. Not only was the Cowboys WR listed as a top 25 player under 25 years old by Pro Football Focus, but he was recently ranked No. 12 by PFF on their official preseason wide receiver rankings list.

In a recent breakdown by PFF’s Anthony Treash, the writer put together a list of 32 of the league’s best receivers and not only ranked them, but also put them into five separate tiers. The tiers were (in order of best to worst) Elite, Young Talents on the Cusp of Tier 1, Former Tier 1 Veterans Eyeing a Bounce-Back, Maybe Not-Elite But High Quality, and Up-and-Comers.

Lamb landed in the second tier and was 12th out of 32 of the best receivers in the league. That’s incredibly impressive for a soon-to-be third-year receiver in a league full of Hall of Fame-worthy pass catchers.

PFF ranks Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb No. 12 on a list of the NFL’s 32 top receivers heading into 2022

Here are some important things to note about where Lamb landed on this list:

1. He was ranked well above former-teammate Amari Cooper (No. 22)
2. The other receivers in his tier were Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf, Tee Higgins, and Terry McLaurin – all pretty impressive stars in the NFL
3. He also landed above big names like Chris Godwin, Michael Thomas, and OBJ

This is what Treash had to say about the Cowboys receiver specifically:

"“Lamb was pigeonholed to the slot as a rookie in 2020 but was given an outside job in 2021, where he showcased his best play. Lined up out wide last season, the former Oklahoma Sooner was the sixth-highest-graded receiver in the NFL. Lamb needs to get better with defeating press coverage, but he ate when given a free release. The 6-foot-2, 191-pound receiver also attacks the catch point well and is strong after the catch. He ranked top-five at the position in both contested catch rate (70% — 14-of-20) and broken tackles after the catch (19) in 2021.”"

Of course, this ranking and tiering is just one man’s opinion. But it is nice for Cowboys fans to know that analysts and writers around the league think highly of a young player being asked to take on a much bigger role in 2022. In a recent interview at OTAs, Lamb told Jon Machota that he has been ready for this opportunity and has even gained 10 pounds this offseason to help him prepare to be a more impactful WR1. The receiver is looking to improve upon his over-1,000 yard Pro Bowl season in 2021.