In the 2025 season, the Dallas Cowboys ranked seventh in points scored per game, first in passing yards, seventh in passer rating, and first in passing plays of 40+ yards. Explosive isn't even a strong enough word to capture just how good that offense was last year.
With the main pieces back for 2026, all the team really needs from the defense is an average unit. Given all the changes that side of the ball saw this offseason, average feels attainable, but this also assumes that the offense remains top-tier.
The unit saw the addition of the hyper-athletic George Pickens last year. Pickens is set to play on the franchise tag in 2026, so for at least one more season, the elite duo of Pickens and CeeDee Lamb will be on display in Dallas, but a recent ranking from Bleacher Report unintentionally disrespected Lamb and Pickens.
Dallas Cowboys' WR group ranked 2nd in the NFL ahead of the 2026 season
Trailing the Minnesota Vikings, the Cowboys wide receiver group was ranked second in the league ahead of the 2026 season:
"Top Three Receivers: CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy
The Dallas Cowboys were second in the league in total offense last year, largely because of one of the league's most dangerous one-two punches in the NFL in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.
Lamb has been one of the best in the league at what he does for several years—despite missing three games last year he topped 1,000 yards for the fifth consecutive season.
As Tommy Yarrish noted for the team's website, Lamb has entered rarefied air in franchise history:
'With a fifth-straight 1,000 yard receiving season in 2025, Lamb joined fellow 88-club member Michael Irvin as the only Cowboys receivers in franchise history with five consecutive 1,000 yard receiving seasons. Lamb is the only player in franchise history to post 1,000 receiving yards in five of his first six seasons. Lamb's 571 receptions and 7,416 receiving yards through his first six seasons in Dallas are the most in franchise history during that time span.'
As good as Lamb has been, in 2025 at least Pickens was even better—in his first year in Dallas, he set career highs in receptions (93), receiving yards (1,429) and touchdowns (nine) on the way to his first Pro Bowl."
Dallas' wide receiver group being ranked second in the league could feel fair in the eyes of many fans, but being ranked behind Minnesota feels a bit odd. While the Vikings did have some dysfunctional quarterback play at times last year, the duo of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, plainly, isn't as talent as the Cowboys' duo.
While Jefferson is potentially a future Hall of Famer, Lamb has put up similar numbers throughout his career. Both wide receivers were a part of the historically great 2020 NFL Draft class, and, thus far, their career numbers look like this:
Jefferson
6.2 receptions per game
90.2 yards per game
4 Pro Bowls
2 All-Pros
Lamb
6.0 receptions per game
78.1 yards per game
5 Pro Bowls
1 All-Pro
Both players have had similar careers thus far, and things look even better for the Cowboys when you look at Pickens and Jordan Addison, who is the other player of note in the Vikings room:
Addison
3.8 receptions per game
52.1 yards per game
0 Pro Bowls
0 All-Pros
Pickens
4.1 receptions per game
65.7 yards per game
1 Pro Bowl
1 second-team All-Pro
And while Ryan Flournoy wasn't a revelation in 2025, his numbers compared to 2024 are night and day. Flournoy caught 30 more passes for over 300 more yards and four more touchdowns from year one into year two. According to Pro Football Reference, he had a stellar passer rating of 113.3 when targeted and dropped just two passes.
For context, the Vikings third wide receiver is Jauan Jennings, who had an 83.7 passer rating when targeted in 2025, so he was a much less efficient player than Flournoy. I guess preferring the Vikings wide receiver room over the Cowboys could be viewed as a legitimate coin flip, but the numbers paint a better picture for Dallas.
While rankings are subjective, the Cowboys' wide receiver group should be viewed as the best heading into the 2025 season. It certainly was the most productive, and with both Pickens and Lamb still rather young and Flournoy having made a jump in year two, this room is ready to explode further.
Recency bias is king in the NFL, making it utterly ridiculous that the Cowboys' WR room lost out to Minnesota's. Second place is nothing to sneeze at, but Lamb and Pickens will now be playing with an even bigger chip on their shoulders.
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