Dallas Cowboys waste first-round pick on a luxury player in receiver CeeDee Lamb
There are two things I currently hate in this lifetime: Green peas, and the fact the Dallas Cowboys spent their first-round draft pick on a wide receiver.
If drafting a wide receiver in the first round was even a possibility, why did the Cowboys spend $100 million on Amari Cooper?
Oklahoma Sooners’ CeeDee Lamb was a dominant college player, and he is a reach for a roster that already has two good players at his position.
The Cowboys have one of the highest-paid receivers in the game in Cooper, and another guy who looks like he has solid No. 2, maybe No. 1, potential in Michael Gallup.
Naturally, the Dallas Cowboys selected another receiver. Now, Lamb is a slot receiver, but this still feels like a reach.
It’s as if Matt Millen is the GM of the Dallas Cowboys. We couldn’t be that lucky. But it’s Jerry Jones.
Quarterback Dak Prescott was handed another toy, and in the process an excuse was taken away.
“I’m thrilled where I ended up,” Lamb said in a conference call late Thursday night. “I want to be a huge contributor to the Cowboys’ offense.”
Lamb conceded he did not think he would be selected by the Cowboys.
Somewhere, the ghost of former Dallas Cowboys receiver Mike Zimmer screamed at his TV, “Get me some help!” when Jerry Jones made Lamb the 17th overall pick.
Welcome to the Cowboys, Mike Nolan.
The Cowboys defensive coordinator inherited an ish defense, and apparently that’s just fine.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is the new Mr. Fix It. And all of their defensive ends who are currently applying for reinstatement into the NFL for failing various league policies will solve their pass rushing needs.
With Alabama safety Xavier McKinney, as well as LSU linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson, both available at 17, the Cowboys still went offense.
If drafting the best player available is your thing, the Cowboys likely went with their board. That’s not necessarily a bad strategy.
The NFL draft, however, is more about selecting the best player available for a specific need, provided the gap is plausible. There is no way CeeDee Lamb is that much better than the aforementioned defensive players.
At 17, the Cowboys have far greater needs than a position they have already invested heavily in over the last few years.
Two years ago, they traded their first-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft to the Oakland Raiders to acquire Cooper. Basically, the Cowboys selected a receiver in the first round in ‘19 and ‘20.
Gallup was a third-round pick in 2018.
Lamb is adding a potential Mercedes-Benz to a garage that has two other high-end cars. Their defense needs one of the cars from The Fast and the Furious.
They need a safety. They need a defensive player who can make a play on the ball.
By neglecting defense in the first round, the Dallas Cowboys are assuming guys like Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch will bounce back to their 2018 form.
By neglecting defense in the first round, the Dallas Cowboys are assuming that suspended defensive ends Randy Gregory and Aldon Smith not only will be re-instate but will be effective. And Tank Lawrence will not only hold up but have another productive season.
By selecting CeeDee Lamb, the Dallas Cowboys shored up a position that was already one of the strongest on their team, which, in case you forgot, finished 8-8.
