3 Cowboys players who cannot afford to regress in 2023

2. CeeDee Lamb

CeeDee Lamb avoided regressing the first two years after his rookie season, but he cannot let up now. Lamb has quickly emerged as one of the better receivers in the league, having made the Pro Bowl the past two years. His first full season as the team's number one receiver proved that trading Amari Cooper wasn't a terrible idea.

In 2022, Lamb posted his second straight 1,000-yard season and a career-high 10 touchdowns. He quickly proved to be Prescott's primary target in 2022. When a receiver wears number 88 in Dallas expectations are always sky high. Drew Pearson, Michael Irvin and Dez Bryant all proved to be game-changers during their careers and the hope for Lamb is the same.

If Lamb has one criticism working against him it is his dropped passes. Last season he was targeted 156 times and had 107 receptions. Fortunately, his issue of dropping important passes began to fade away last season, but with a new offensive coordinator in Brian Schottenheimer things could change a bit for the offense.

There is no doubt Lamb is the Cowboys' best receiver and he has even more help now with Brandin Cooks coming over from Houston. Some experts believe he belongs in the same class as receivers such as Devante Adams and Justin Jefferson. He certainly has the talent to be as good if not better than them, but year four cannot afford to be a letdown.

Lamb is due for an All-Pro season in 2023 with hopefully a lucrative contract extension waiting on the other side.