FRISCO - A year ago at this time, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott didn't have his No. 1 weapon, CeeDee Lamb, on the practice field at training camp.
Now he's about to have two Nos. 1 on the field, and there is a very specific reason why one analyst believes the Lamb combo with George Pickens is about to be a "nightmare" for NFL foes.
To open the 2024 camp, Lamb was going through his contract situation and didn't hit the field until late in the process. This time around, he has been at The Star from Day 1 of OTAs through to the end of minicamp. And recently, the whole bunch — Pickens included — joined Prescott in his annual retreat in Georgia to work on chemistry and bonding between the QBs and the pass-catchers.
Prescott is on record as praising what this duo can be by using the word "monumental."
"It's valuable, CeeDee being here,” Prescott said recently. “It's hard to even put in comparison him being here, the work we're able to get versus last year, the contract negotiations, but just to have him here, having these practices getting off to a good start, understanding each other, what we're trying to accomplish has been monumental."
And on Pickens, who after being traded to Dallas by the Pittsburgh Steelers, seems to have immediately hit it off with the fellas?
"Adding GP, that's been monumental," Prescott added. "When you bring in guys like that, talented guys, guys I've played with over the years that you look at their resume and they're winning there, that's credit to them."
"Monumental." Times two.
Now, how does this manifest itself on the field? By the numbers, in at least one very specific way: Deep balls.
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes notes that “George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb on the field at the same time are a nightmare," in this sense.
She said, “Last year alone, when Lamb was playing with Cooper Rush, vs. single high coverage CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were respectively fourth and eighth in yards per game."
And, she adds, "In the last three years on deep balls they were third and fifth in deep catches."
Yes, Dallas talks of wanting to be a successful running team. But the downfield weaponry, by The Eye Test and by those numbers, is elite.
“As a defense, the pure math of having to deal with both of these two players and a quarterback who is capable of delivering them the ball accurately and is aggressive," Kimes said, "you have to make difficult decisions from the jump when playing these two wide receivers.”
And maybe, Prescott has some easy decisions to make when it comes time to go deep.
