They didn't interview him. They didn't feel they needed to. They did a slew of NFL mock drafts and the odds were they'd waste their time talking to him. Of course, I'm referring to the Dallas Cowboys presumption regarding wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who became their 17th-overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, after falling several spots beyond where anyone predicted. 

"[Lamb] was never once was there at 17 [in our mocks]," said head coach Mike McCarthy, whose influence on the Cowboys has now been felt in both free agency and the NFL draft. "We're very blessed, very happy to have him. ...It was a great example of staying true to our board. The staff did an incredible job of just being disciplined and drafting the best player."

When the New York Jets passed on grabbing a WR to fill a need to select offensive lineman Mekhi Becton with the 11th-overall pick, there was bound to be a run on the top three receivers in the draft -- namely Lamb, Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III. But when the Las Vegas Raiders decided to grab Ruggs with the 12th-overall pick, there was an audible gasp among owner Jerry Jones and the rest of his Cowboys front office. 

Could Lamb fall? 

Surely not, considering there were WR-needy clubs like the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos set to pick ahead of the Cowboys, but then it happened. 

The 49ers moved back a spot but still passed on a receiver at No. 14, and the aforementioned gasp evolved into the Cowboys suddenly holding their breath entirely. When the Broncos picked Jeudy at No. 15 and with the Atlanta Falcons in dire need of a corner or pass rusher -- they chose defensive back A.J. Terrell -- there Lamb was, starting Dallas right in the face and daring them to pass on him. They didn't, but it required a bit of dialogue, considering they were eyeing EDGE talent K'Lavon Chaisson with the 17th-overall pick, operating under the assumption Lamb would be long gone.

It truly did come down to those two players.

"I don't mind telling you [Chaisson] was a serious thought," Jones admitted, after noting the team had and "extremely high value" on the LSU product. "We talked about it."

The conversation didn't last long though, and Lamb now joins a Cowboys offense that could be virtually unstoppable in 2020. 

The team had Lamb rated as the sixth-best player on their board, which made for a fairly easy decision when he was sitting there with half the first round already in the books. So enthralled with Lamb were the Cowboys that they shrugged off multiple trade offers that would've involved them moving back and gaining more picks, instead subscribing to the belief that extra picks in later rounds wouldn't have the Day 1 impact of Lamb. 

"We had as many as three different trades that we could have [done]," Jones said. "[We] just didn't want to miss [Lamb]."

Team exec Stephen Jones, who was also present virtually as Jones and McCarthy navigated the pick, was as floored as everyone else involved. He echoed McCarthy's comment regarding Lamb having never been available at No. 17 in any of the team's drafts -- having pegged him as a premier talent that wouldn't come within sniffing distance of Dallas.

"We went through a lot of mock drafts, and I can tell you, [Lamb] wasn't a part of any of them," he said. "We felt he was a top-10 player in this draft and we felt we'd never see him. 

"... At the end of the day, CeeDee was a blinking light up there."