Blogging The Boys
An offseason ranking looks at the skill positions.
2025 rank: 11 | 2024 rank: 8
The Cowboys might claim to have the best one-two punch in the league at wide receiver between CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.
Pickens’ performance after moving from Pittsburgh to Dallas is a great example of how context can dramatically change a player’s production. Pickens shifted from a run-first offense with bad quarterback play in Pittsburgh to one that played faster, threw more often and was operated by a much better signal-caller in Dallas. Pickens played better in a vacuum, but he also was in a much more advantageous situation to succeed.
Lamb’s 2023 season might look like an outlier if he can’t come close to hitting that 1,749-yard mark again in 2026. He’s still extremely efficient, but Lamb has missed time with injuries each of the past two seasons and hasn’t been able to command the outlandish target share he saw during that big campaign. Between Pickens and tight end Jake Ferguson, who made it back to the Pro Bowl after catching more than 80% of the passes thrown in his direction last season, it’s tough to see Lamb earning 181 targets again anytime soon.
Javonte Williams was a pleasant surprise at running back in 2025, staying healthy for the majority of the season and averaging nearly 5 yards per carry along the way. He had struggled to stay on the field since an early-career knee injury, so if he can keep this up in 2026, it’ll be difficult to find many faults with what the Cowboys can roll out for Dak Prescott.
The Cowboys other first-rounder speaks.
When the Cowboys selected Ohio State safety Caleb Downs with the 11th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Dallas’ war room erupted in celebration. In the press conference following the first round, the Cowboys’ brass admitted they didn’t think Downs would be close to being available.
In the days and weeks after, Downs’ selection captured headlines as one of the best picks in the draft, and rightfully so. But 12 picks after Downs became a Cowboy, Dallas’ second first-round pick Malachi Lawrence was drafted to help the defense too. Lawrence’s name hasn’t been in as many headlines, and he’s perfectly fine with that.
“I’m kind of used to being in the shadows,” Lawrence said. “It doesn’t faze me. Once the time comes, people will see the work that you put in…”
“Not being in the spotlight, if you get on Instagram, you probably won’t scroll and see my name, but you’ll probably see some other guys’ names. Once you kind of get to know who I was, it’s like I became...
