Oklahoma Football: Will CeeDee Lamb be the first receiver drafted?

CeeDee Lamb was the most entertaining player for Oklahoma football last year. Will the star wide out be the first receiver taken in the NFL draft?

When it comes to position groups, there isn’t one better than the receivers in this year’s NFL Draft. The list is deep, including names like Jerry Jeudy, Tee Higgins, Henry Ruggs III, Justin Jefferson, and Laviska Shenault Jr. There wasn’t a wideout in 2019, however, that was more fun to watch than CeeDee Lamb.

Of course, the “fun-factor” doesn’t always translate to skill. What makes Lamb so special is that he blends a ridiculous playmaking ability with strong, solid fundamentals. He can make the highlight plays, as he did several times per game last year, and he can showcase tremendous technique and discipline.

In a draft that has such a strong group of outside threats, Lamb is near the top.

Strengths

Lamb was the best after-the-catch receiver in college football last season, and it wasn’t close. Like his former teammate and predecessor as the Sooners’ primary weapon, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, college football Saturday’s regularly opened with Gus Johnson providing the soundtrack for Lamb’s insane playmaking ability.

That is, of course, the part of Lamb’s game that everyone talks about. What makes him truly special is that he can do everything.

His excellent route-running is the aspect of his game that cements him as an elite prospect. Jeudy may be the better route-runner, but Lamb does it at an extremely high level and pairs it with his shiftiness immediately after the catch. He’s got a tremendous ability to get open, and has shown to be especially adept at finding holes against the zone defense.

Lamb stands at 6-foot-2 and weighs in at 198. His game is more of a quick, shifty one, but he’s still got the size and strength to go up for balls at the NFL level. He’s regarded as one of the nation’s most sure-handed receivers as well (that doesn’t just mean he can catch, Lamb lost 0 fumbles all year, despite spending so much time as a runner after the catch).

Weaknesses

It’s tough to find the knock against Lamb, but there is one. Many analysts suggest that Lamb doesn’t have elite speed for the NFL level.

That is the weakest area of Lamb’s game, but it doesn’t put him at a huge disadvantage against the group of wideouts in this draft. He ran a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash, just .04 seconds slower than Jeudy, the man who many believe will be the draft’s first receiver selected.

Draft Expectations

Among that group of six great wideouts, Jeudy and Lamb are the two contending for the top selection. The margin between the two is razor-thin, and where they go will likely come down to scheme fit, and what the scouts and personnel within each team’s buildings prefer in a wideout.

Regardless of who goes first, each of these wideouts is a player that should go in the top half of the first round, and potentially the top ten. The only way either of them will slide is if team’s that need a wideout trade out of their pick. Detroit and New York, with the third and fourth overall picks respectively, need an outside weapon, but they could also get a strong return in a trade if someone else in the league wants to move up for a quarterback.

Ultimately, it will be a huge upset if one of them is left after the first 10-15 picks, because each of them is a playmaker worthy of a pick in the top six or seven selections.

Projection: Early-first round (No. 3-10)