Why the Cowboys selected wide receiver CeeDee Lamb with the 17th overall pick despite other needs | Yahoo Sports Draft Live
The Yahoo Sports’ NFL Draft Live crew discuss why Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones couldn’t pass up on the talented former Sooners wideout.
Video Transcript
[CHEERING]
MICHELLE GINGRAS: So now let's talk about what the Cowboys could do here following an 8 and 8 season. The pick is in, but not yet announced. They fired Jason Garrett after 9 and 1/2 seasons. They brought in Mike McCarthy. Jerry Jones said this week that he liked the spot that they're in, and there's quote, "enough to work with here." So Dallas recently signed Aldon Smith and Randy Gregory. But, Charles, could they still be eyeing an edge rusher here?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, you know, I think they could. I mean, look, Aldon Smith, Randy Gregory-- things are so up in the air with those two players and the Dallas Cowboys. I don't think anybody can look at that situation and realistically say, hey, we know what we're going to get out of these guys, you know? We know we're going to-- everyone's really excited in Dallas. Is there talent there? Yeah. Is there a complication there?
Yeah. I think Dallas came into this draft feeling good about getting both of those guys onto the field next season. But also, from what I understood, it wasn't going to change their draft plan. If they saw an edge rusher there that they really liked, that they felt could be an impact player, they were like, hey great, maybe we get both of those guys on the field, and an impact edge rusher from this draft. You can never have too many edge rushers. I think that's how Dallas is approaching this.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: Right.
ERIC EDHOLM: But I would also add, Charles, that CeeDee Lamb is out there. And I don't know that Dallas expected him to be there.
PETE THAMEL: He's there now. He's in Dallas.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: Eric, you're like a sidekick. Because the Cowboys have selected CeeDee Lamb. So let's go straight to Pete. What does CeeDee Lamb bring to this team?
PETE THAMEL: I mean, it's such a Jerry Jones pick. They have bigger needs, obviously. They paid Amari Cooper about $11 billion to be the receiver of the future. But they could not resist CeeDee Lamb. Jerry Jones can not resist stars. And I think CeeDee Lamb's a star. I can disagree with the pick on some sense because of need. But I agree with it completely because of his talent.
CeeDee Lamb was my favorite receiver in this draft. And he doesn't maybe have the straight line speed of Ruggs, and he's not as polished as Judy. But he had production, production, production. I loved a comp a scout gave me, Michelle, on him. He said, he's Larry Fitzgerald. He just kind of doesn't look the part, but just keeps catching passes, producing. He's elite in the run after the catch. And I really feel like if you're Dak Prescott right now, you're really happy to have this weapon added.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: He also drew DeAndre Hopkins comparisons, so not too shabby for him. Eric, finish your thoughts, though, on Lamb here. Why do you think he's such a good fit?
ERIC EDHOLM: Yeah, I mean, I think he's exactly what Pete said. Don't worry about the time speed. Watch the plays he made, and how he made people miss, you know, despite those things. He plays with an edge, you know? There were times when he played with too much edge, you know? Last year in 2018 against Texas Tech, got a little hot under the collar.
But he seems like a Dallas Cowboys player. It may not have been the biggest need with Cooper, and Michael Gallup having a breakout year, but I don't care. They don't have threats at tight end. They don't really have a pass catching back other than Tony Pollard. You know, run the 11 personnel you want, the four wide receiver formations. Give Dak Prescott all the weapons he needs.
This, to me, was a great pick. So this is why I think people who get hung up on need an immediate fits-- you can fill need in other ways, right? There's veterans who are going to be cut after this draft. There are trades you can make after the draft. When you get a chance to draft a player like this at number 17-- everybody who passed on DeAndre Hopkins in a bad draft-- that was an awful draft, and he went 27. They're regretting it now. The Dallas Cowboys made a great pick.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: On offense, there's always questions, you know, about Dak Prescott. They obviously got the franchise-- or he got the franchise tag. Tank, how does CeeDee Lamb just help to give Dak maybe that help he needs?
TANK WILLIAMS: Yeah, because what Dak need is money. And so CeeDee Lamb is going to help Dak get his money. Because you already have Amari Cooper, who just signed [INAUDIBLE] Michael Gallup actually performed better than expected on the opposite side. You lose Jason Witten, but at the same time, you have that monster, Ezekiel Elliott, behind Dak running the ball. So now you add another piece of the puzzle.
I mean, personally, I felt like CeeDee Lamb was the best wide receiver in this draft. He's an Oklahoma guy, so you know Jerry loves that. And so you put all those pieces together with the most valuable franchise in the world-- not just the US, but the world-- so you give Dak all these weapons, now he's doing that drive that thing. And if he drives it the way he should, Dak should get his money eventually as well.
PETE THAMEL: Can't you wait till week three in, Dallas when they're 1 and 2, and people are saying that they drafted CeeDee Lamb to get Lincoln Riley?
[LAUGHTER]
MICHELLE GINGRAS: His teammates used to call him DVD-- Eric, I got this from your little notes-- because of his highlight style runs. Is that just kind of what you were alluding to, just he is so exciting to watch as a player?
ERIC EDHOLM: Yeah. I mean, his ball skills, to me, were second to none in this class, the ability to high point the ball, to go up and snatch it out of the air. He made one of the stranger but more wonderful plays at the combine on an under thrown ball, where he adjusts his body. It didn't look all that pretty, but he made the grab. And I talked to a few people later that night-- very late that night in Indianapolis-- and they said, that's what we want in a wide receiver. It doesn't have to look pretty. It just has to look effective, right?
And CeeDee Lamb does that. He can return punts too, as well. There's a kid who grew up in Richmond, Texas, probably had the Cowboys in his sights at some point. Didn't know if it was actually going to happen. Was kind of overlooked a little bit in high school. I mean, Texas produces so much wide receiver talent. But all he did was go in, make freshmen All America, all Big 12, eventually consensus All-American pick. You know, I just think that it's going to be a perfect situation, where he's not going to see, you know, double coverage, much like he did at Oklahoma, where he had some free releases, and was able to make plays.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: Absolutely. Charles, what you take here?
CHARLES ROBINSON: I think it's funny. Because I think it's interesting this is the draft where Jerry Jones (LAUGHING) is sort of left to its own devices to make a pick. Now do I think the scouting department was on board with this? Yeah, I actually do. But at the same time, this is the pick Jerry Jones would make if he was left alone to make an offensive pick. He would take CeeDee Lamb.
One thing I want to mention here, I do think there's something that is very attractive to the Dallas Cowboys. I think they look at the Kansas City Chiefs, and they go, jeez, the Chiefs-- all they did was keep stacking up offensive pieces. It seemed they go out and they go get Mecole Hardman, and it's like, do you really need to keep stacking all these offensive pieces?
Well, you know what? The Chiefs showed you. You got five, six offensive pieces on the field, and no one can really double anyone, that creates havoc. I think the Dallas Cowboys love that idea. You know, Mike McCarthy is going to absolutely have everything he could possibly want to work with here moving forward.