Cowboys’ WR CeeDee Lamb has an NFL record in his sights

The Dallas Cowboys are gearing up for a big Sunday Night Football at home in AT&T Stadium. Coming to town is QB Baker Mayfield and the rest of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, hoping to build on their big win in Los Angeles last week.

Dallas no longer has playoff hopes, but they can use the rest of the regular season to play spoiler, but more importantly, to give some young players time on the field versus other teams’ starters. The evaluation of the next season has already begun.

Approaching the end of the regular season not only indicates a time for development and evaluation, but is also important for players who may be on incentive-laden contracts. It’s also time to keep an eye out for records that might be broken. There are so many records that I’m glad I don’t have the responsibility of finding them all.

However, I want to talk about a record that can be broken by the Dallas Cowboys own WR CeeDee Lamb. Lamb is one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL, and losing to Dak Prescott twice in the majority of the season in his first five years shows that he is quarterback proof.

The electric wide receiver now sets his sights on making NFL history for most receptions by a player in his first five seasons. That record is currently held by former New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas at 510 receptions. Lamb needs 21 more receptions to tie the record, and 22 to tie for the top spot.

The Road to Greatness

CeeDee Lamb was drafted by the Cowboys as the 17th overall pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Lam was a dream at 17, but somehow managed to fall thanks to the ineptitude of other franchises.

Despite losing Dak Prescott for the year midway through the fifth game of the season, CeeDee finished his rookie year with 74 receptions off the arm of Andy Dalton.

In his second season, he increased his receptions to 79, playing second fiddle to Amari Cooper and even Dalton Schultz. The third season without Cooper in front of him separated Lamb from the boys. 107 receptions later and CeeDee was voted to the Pro Bowl as well as AP 2nd-Team All-Pro.

Last year was magical. Lamb led the league in receptions and set a Cowboys record for most receptions in a season with 135. AP 1st-Team All-Pro honors were awarded to him, setting him up for the big contract he received.

Along with the contract, great expectations followed Lamb into 2024. He was supposed to play as the best wide receiver in the NFL after securing the sack, and I’d say he’s doing well this season. He’s not on pace for 135 receptions, but a slow year on offense combined with Prescott being sent to Injured Reserve proves just how special Lamb is.

Can he get there?

To break that record, Lamb must average a shade over seven receptions over the final three games of the season.

CeeDee Lamb gets the job done this season from Cooper Rush’s arm. He currently leads the NFL with 144 catches, falling to third on the receptions list (94) behind Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown. He also ranks third among wide receivers in YAC (yards after catch) with 494 yards.

With numbers like these, especially leading the league in targets, you can speculate that Lamb is the most likely wide receiver to haul in 22 receptions in three games. The Cowboys still have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders on the schedule. Here’s how they rank against the pass:

• Tampa Bay (30th)
• Philadelphia (1st)
• Washington (4th)

Lamb might want to get most of those 22 receptions against the Bucs because it will be tough against Philadelphia and Washington. Regardless, something tells me Lamb has this record in his sights.