Now that NFL regular seasons have 17 games, plenty of single-season records have been broken. Calvin Jefferson's 1,964 receiving yards in 2012 is not one of them.
But soon, that might change, as NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks laid out in a recent article discussing candidates to break the historic mark and maybe reach the 2,000 mark:
Last season, 28 pass catchers finished with 1,000-plus yards, including a pair of wideouts who exceeded 1,700 yards (Tyreek Hill and CeeDee Lamb). With 12 players making 100 or more catches in 2023, it is only a matter of time before someone takes down Johnson's record as the ultimate WR1 in a game ruled by the pass.
The only problem is right after pointing out Lamb as one of two wide receivers to exceed 1,700 yards, Brooks snubbed the first-team All-Pro Cowboys playmaker from his list of five wide outs that could break the record.
I won't lie, I was surprised and even somewhat confused. The list includes (in order) Hill, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, George Pickens, and Amari Cooper.
Let's break it down: Shoutout to the top three names on the list, they're all unbelievable playmakers and are guaranteed to produce at a high level. I'm not mad at any of those.
But George Pickens is on the list and CeeDee Lamb is not on the list? He did average a whopping 18.1 yards per catch in 2023, which led the league. But that's quite the take when Russell Wilson and Justin Fields are expected to command an old-school offense with run game enthusiast Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator.
Meanwhile, Lamb - who, as pointed out by Brooks himself was one of two wide receivers to exceed 1,700 yards - was a big reason why the Cowboys' midseason shift to being a pass-happy offense worked out. When the offense was rolling, it was because No. 88 was catching the football.
I admit I can see Amari Cooper reaching that kind of production but I have serious questions about Deshaun Watson, who has struggled since arriving at Cleveland.
In all objectiveness, the NFL is filled with great wide receivers and I can see the arguments for all these guys. Brooks is one of the best in the business. But man, CeeDee was hit with a dose of disrespect on this one. His name belongs on that list, perhaps right behind Tyreek.
The good news is Lamb is likely not going to sweat it and if he does, it's nothing that a potential future massive contract can't fix.
