CeeDee Lamb wasn’t the most disappointing player of the 2021 season, but he belongs on any list of the many players who fell far short of expectations. In his second season, he was supposed to emerge as a top-10 type receiver, and that simply never happened.
In the second half of the season, Lamb wasn’t even a top-20 receiver. Including the playoffs, he scored in only one of his final 11 games. In his final nine regular-season games (a little more than half of a season) he caught 40 passes for 493 yards and 2 TDs.
| WIDE RECEIVERS SINCE WEEK 9 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR |
| Cooper Kupp, LAR | 82 | 1,023 | 6 | 224.6 |
| Justin Jefferson, Min. | 65 | 1,053 | 7 | 214.7 |
| Davante Adams, G.B. | 71 | 809 | 8 | 199.9 |
| Deebo Samuel, S.F. | 33 | 586 | 2 | 184.9 |
| Stefon Diggs, Buff. | 61 | 722 | 7 | 175.2 |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 63 | 662 | 5 | 173.3 |
| Hunter Renfrow, L.V. | 65 | 639 | 7 | 169.2 |
| Diontae Johnson, Pitt. | 67 | 687 | 5 | 166.5 |
| Keenan Allen, LAC | 61 | 642 | 4 | 151.2 |
| JaMarr Chase, Cin. | 43 | 669 | 6 | 145.3 |
| Tee Higgins, Cin. | 45 | 738 | 4 | 142.8 |
| Jaylen Waddle, Mia. | 56 | 602 | 3 | 140.3 |
| Darnell Mooney, Chi. | 48 | 646 | 3 | 138.8 |
| Russell Gage, Atl. | 57 | 675 | 3 | 138.5 |
| Brandon Aiyuk, S.F. | 43 | 685 | 4 | 134.1 |
| Tyler Lockett, Sea. | 32 | 596 | 5 | 124.5 |
| Mike Williams, LAC | 41 | 629 | 3 | 121.9 |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 35 | 491 | 6 | 121.1 |
| Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 47 | 504 | 3 | 118.7 |
| Brandin Cooks, Hou. | 39 | 452 | 4 | 109.8 |
| Michael Pittman, Ind. | 43 | 488 | 2 | 109.4 |
| CeeDee Lamb, Dall. | 40 | 493 | 2 | 107.1 |
| DJ Moore, Car. | 43 | 512 | 1 | 104.9 |
| DeVonta Smith, Phil. | 31 | 495 | 4 | 104.5 |
| Christian Kirk, Ariz. | 43 | 528 | 1 | 103.1 |
| Elijah Moore, NYJ | 28 | 392 | 5 | 100.3 |
| DK Metcalf, Sea. | 36 | 387 | 4 | 99.3 |
| Chris Godwin, T.B. | 48 | 443 | 1 | 98.2 |
| Kendrick Bourne, N.E. | 29 | 412 | 3 | 97.9 |
| Allen Lazard , G.B. | 25 | 329 | 6 | 97.1 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
Those aren’t terrible numbers, but they’re shocking modest when one considers that the Cowboys ranked 3rd in passing (292 yards per week) while also throwing 40 touchdown passes.
Lamb finished the season with 79 catches for 1,102 yards and 6 TDs. Again, not bad numbers, but he was more of a contributor rather than a difference maker. He didn’t win games for them. When the Cowboys selected him in 2020, recall, they thought he was the best wide receiver in that draft.
Lamb’s worst game came in the playoffs. They targeted him 5 times, with him finishing with 1 catch for 21 yards. He also had a long reception negated by a penalty. Simply not enough against a defense with lesser cornerbacks.
Probably most of the blame here can be attributed to the coaching staff. Why wasn’t Lamb used more or used differently? Tight end Dalton Schultz finished the season with only 1 fewer catch while scoring 2 more touchdowns. Cedrick Wilson caught as many touchdowns as Lamb. It doesn’t seem right.
Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman on his radio show today ripped into the coaching staff, arguing that the unwillingness to use Lamb was key to the loss.
“The coordinators, it’s all about scheme, rather than, ‘This corner is playing soft. He’s scared to death. Just run the route tree. Run a comeback. Run a dig route. Run a curl. Run anything.'” Aikman said.
“You’re going to complete the pass whenever you want. (Michael Irvin) would’ve had 10 catches at halftime if they played us the way they played CeeDee Lamb in that game … The game is not that difficult. If I’ve got a great player at wide receiver and a corner is playing him single coverage, throw him the ball. He’s going to win most of the time.”
Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is currently interviewing for head coaching position. His name has been thrown about all season as a guy likely to become a head coach, either in Dallas or elsewhere. But the underwhelming effort by Dallas’ offense on Sunday might contribute to him having to wait at least another hiring cycle before landing one of those jobs.
There are teams looking for coaches who also currently have talented pass catchers – think Jaylen Waddle, Jerry Jeudy, Justin Jefferson and Darren Waller. They might now be thinking twice about whether they want Kellen Moore in charge of putting together their game plans.
—Ian Allan