The 2021 NFL season may barely be in the books, but Dave Richard is already getting a jump on his 2022 preparation by highlighting at least one key statistic to know for each NFL team that had a major bearing on their 2021 performance and could mean a great deal for their 2022 outlook. In this space, Dave dives into the Dallas Cowboys.
More Early Prep (AFC): BAL | BUF | CIN | CLE | DEN | TEN | HOU | IND | JAC | KC | LAC | LV | MIA | NE | NYJ
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Dallas Cowboys stats to know
CeeDee Lamb began the 2021 season strong -- when the Cowboys hit their bye after six weeks, he was 10th among wideouts in overall PPR points. Things changed soon after, particularly when Michael Gallup came back in Week 10 and pushed Lamb into more of a slot role. Despite how Lamb played in the slot as a rookie, he didn't fare nearly as well.
- Lamb Weeks 1 through 9 (eight games): 22.6% target share, 23.6% targets per route run, 8.3 targets per game, 15.4 yards per catch, 79.6% of snaps out wide
- Lamb Weeks 10 through playoffs (nine games): 15.2% target share, 19.7% targets per route run, 6.6 targets per game, 12.6 yards per catch, 49% of snaps out wide
Lamb's explosiveness cratered when ordered into the slot once Gallup came back, and even when he played way more out wide in Week 18 and in the playoff game, he wasn't as good or as relied upon (a 10% target share and one explosive catch). If you're rooting for Lamb in 2022, you either have to hope for him to see more action along the outside or for him to regain his efficiency in the slot from his rookie year. Or hope for Amari Cooper to be on a different team. It also wouldn't hurt if he had more than the four targets inside the 10-yard line that he had in 2021.
Lamb was one of the trendiest second-year receiver breakout picks in drafts last August, but he didn't live up to the hype. That doesn't mean it can't happen. We'll be looking for breakouts from last year's rookie class to take that second year leap in 2022. But which ones will actually live up to the hype? The Fantasy Football Today team dove deep into the 2021 WR rookie class and what their outlooks look like for 2022:
