FRISCO (KFDX/KJTL) — The Dallas Cowboys selected former Oklahoma All-American wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday night.
Lamb was the 17th overall pick after being projected to go much earlier in the first round.
Lamb joins an already elite office, anchored by a quarterback coming off their best statistical season yet in Dak Prescott, an already 3-time All Pro running back in Ezekiel Elliott, and two 1,000 yard receivers in Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup.
High School and College Career
CeeDee Lamb, 21, was born in Louisiana, but relocated to Texas after his family evacuated due to Hurricane Katrina.
Lamb played high school football at Foster High School in Richmond, Texas, where he caught 98 passes for a total of 2,032 yards and 33 touchdowns in his senior season alone.
Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (2) runs past Iowa State linebacker O’Rien Vance (34) during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019, in Norman, Oka. (Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP) 
Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (2) scores on his third touchdown reception of the game in front of Texas defensive back D’Shawn Jamison (5) in the second half of an NCAA college football game
As a freshman at OU, Lamb broke the school’s freshman receiving yards record with 807 yards on 46 catches, seven of them for touchdowns.
During the 40 games he played in during three seasons at OU, Lamb caught 173 passes for 3,292 yards and 32 touchdowns, averaging 19 yards per reception.
In 2019, Lamb was named a consensus first-team All-American and was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award for college football’s best wide receiver.
Lamb joins an already talented receiving core in Dallas, with both newly signed Amari Cooper and second-year breakout Michael Gallup finishing the 2019 season with over 1,000 receiving yards each.
Looking Ahead To Day Two
While the list of the Cowboys needs is long, and wide receiver was not necessarily at the top, by all metrics, Lamb was far and away the best player available when the Cowboys were on the clock with the 17th overall pick.
Several draft experts and scouts had Lamb rated as their top wide receiver in a historically stout wide receiver draft class.
Owner and General Manager Jerry Jones told national radio hosts that Lamb was sixth overall on the Cowboy’s draft board, making him the best available player by a factor of 11 picks.
That’s a steal, but it doesn’t address their other more immediate needs on their defensive line, backfield, or offensive line, or any of the other positions they need to fill through the draft.
Front office personnel may be celebrating tonight, it’ll be right back to work Friday evening trying to fill their long list of needs in the second and third rounds, with picks 51 and 87.
