Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was not happy after the team’s Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He voiced his frustrations after the game, seemingly throwing shade at head coach Mike McCarthy for how the offense was being run.
CeeDee Lamb’s frustrations were easy to pinpoint. Like every other star wide receiver in the NFL, he wants the ball to come his way more often. It was a tactic that Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals used earlier in the season, providing some colorful language when talking about being open.
While the Cowboys’ star didn’t express himself in the same way, the message seemingly got through. In the team’s Week 6 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football, CeeDee Lamb was targeted seven times, catching all of them for 117 yards.
It will be interesting to see if that was a blip in the radar or a true change in philosophy by McCarthy. Week 6 marked only the second time this season that CeeDee Lamb caught more than four passes in a game. The seven targets are tied for the second most as well.
His lack of involvement in the passing offense is certainly an oddity. The Cowboys wouldn’t have as many of the inconsistencies that they have shown if they got the ball into the hands of their best pass catcher more often.
If this is a trend that continues, one NFL analyst believes that CeeDee Lamb should then look for a way out of Dallas. During a recent segment on ESPN’s First Take, former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky pitched the idea of the former first-round pick pushing for a trade.
“And if the Dallas Cowboys aren’t going to throw him the ball, if I was CeeDee, I’d be like, ‘Just trade me. Just trade me because you’re not using me. It’s going to hinder his ability to make income. There’s no question about it. He’s 30th in the NFL in target share, meaning there’s 29 guys who get thrown the football on a more consistent basis at wide receiver than CeeDee Lamb. That’s unexplainable.”
Part of the usage can be tied to the Cowboys playing the most minutes of any team in the NFL in blowouts. They were leading the NFL in time leading by 21+ points and trailing by 21+ points, which meant fewer snaps for the starters.
Despite that, it is certainly hard to explain why his usage has been so low. There certainly aren’t 29 pass catchers in the NFL better than CeeDee Lamb who should be getting a bigger target share than the one he currently possesses.
