Question of the week: Just how good has CeeDee Lamb been in 2022?

After recording just one catch in last season’s lone playoff game against the 49ers, fans began to question just how good of a player is CeeDee Lamb. People started to believe that his potential as a true wide receiver one was capped and when Amari Cooper was released this offseason.

With a week left in the season, Lamb has 1,307 yards and 102 receptions, both career highs. In each of his first three seasons, he has been on a steady incline in yards, receptions, targets, and touchdowns. It’s as impressive of a climb in recent Cowboys memory and it is much needed for the success of this offense in the now and the foreseeable future.

This year in particular, he has been in the elite of the NFL. He is third in receptions, fourth in yards, and tied for fifth in receiving touchdowns and that is all with his quarterback out for a chunk of the season.

Even just recently, he has logged three straight 100-yard games, the first time he has done that in his career. In the two most recent games of those three, he has combined for 21 receptions, which is the most of any two-game span this season. In two of the last seven games, he has caught 100% of his targets. Although that number seems low, that is the first time he has done that in his career in a seven-game span.

Seeing how he has progressed this year lends credence to the thought that the presence of Amari Cooper may have capped him in the previous two years. Although the wide receivers behind him this year haven’t been consistent, he has been one of the very few consistent parts of this offense from start to finish. If Michael Gallup can take the strides to become a true, consistent counterpart to Lamb, his numbers may continue to increase into year four as he begins to look at a contract extension.

To answer the title of the question in its entirety, he has been better than most people give him praise for, which is already high. He has bettered expectations on an offense where he is almost the total focus in the passing game. Turnovers have also been a hindrance on the overall offensive execution. It’ll be interesting to watch 88 come playoff time as he tries to rebound from a let-down last year.