The Dallas Cowboys came out of ESPN’s annual position rankings with something no amount of July hype can manufacture: two receivers in the league’s top 10, ranked back to back. In the survey of more than 70 executives, coaches and scouts published Wednesday by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, CeeDee Lamb landed at No. 6 and George Pickens at No. 7. Only the Rams, with Puka Nacua fourth and Davante Adams tenth, also placed two players on the list.
The receipts on Lamb are mixed, and the voters treated them that way. He slid from fourth a year ago to sixth after his worst statistical season since his 2020 rookie year — 1,077 yards and three touchdowns while playing through an early ankle injury, with eight drops that tied for second most in the league. He still appeared on every ballot but one. “With his ability to separate and make big plays, the attention he demands creates opportunities for others in the offense,” an NFC scout told ESPN. One coordinator predicted a bounce-back year, saying Lamb “was never quite the same off that ankle injury.”
Pickens, unranked in this survey a year ago, debuted at No. 7 on the strength of his first Dallas season: 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns, with five games of 125-plus receiving yards that tied a single-season franchise record. His 10.4 yards per target ranked second in the NFL. Asked which Cowboys receiver sits atop opposing game plans, one coordinator didn’t hesitate: “It’s Pickens. He has emerged.” A veteran offensive coach called him “one of the best I’ve ever seen at the contested catch” while noting the familiar caveat — “it’s just a consistency issue and where his head’s at week to week.”
The timing gives the rankings some extra weight in Dallas. They arrived one day after the extension deadline passed with Pickens locked into the $27.3 million franchise tag, so league evaluators have now rated him a top-10 receiver in the same week the front office confirmed it will wait a year to price him. Add Dak Prescott’s No. 6 finish in the quarterback survey, and the same voting pool has placed three Cowboys skill players in the top 10 at their positions before camp opens. What the offense produced in January matters more than what it polls in July, but the talent evaluation across the league is consistent.
For fantasy purposes, both players carry WR1 draft capital, and the target split is the real question — Pickens out-produced Lamb by 350 yards last season, yet Lamb’s price is falling toward the best discount he has offered since 2021. Pickens enters a contract year at 25 with every incentive to repeat; dynasty managers should note the two-year age gap runs in his favor too.
— Tex Starline
