The Dallas Cowboys have had a lot of success finding young talent in the draft as well as trading for them. Amongst these splash pickups are offensive linchpins Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and La’el Collins. All were highly-touted prospects coming out of their respective schools.
In fact, when Pro Football Focus recently released their top 50 NFL draft prospects since 2015, the Cowboys trio was on the list.
Amari Cooper was ranked No. 23 thanks to his campaign at Alabama where he holds the second most receiving yards of all-time with 3,463 yards, only behind 2020 Heisman Winner Devonta Smith.
Cooper had some dropsies at Alabama that spilled over into the NFL, but he recorded 124 catches for 1,727 yards, 26 broken tackles and 16 scores in his final season. Combine that with 4.42 speed at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, and you can see why he takes this spot on the list. He wasn’t Megatron, but for what he did best — get open — he was a fairly sure thing.
Cooper was initially drafted by the Raiders with the No. 4 overall pick in 2015 but was traded to Dallas during the 2018 season. He has since become the star wide receiver, amassing 3,028 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns in just under three years with the team. Cooper was also named to the Pro Bowl in 2018 and 2019 and in 2020 the Alabama legend took the role of mentor for Lamb, who is five spots behind him on the list.
Lamb comes in at No. 28.
Lamb was simply clean across the board. Releases, ball skills, YAC, routes — he could do it all at a high level. He averaged a ridiculous 21.4 yards per catch — 11.0 after the catch — in his final season at Oklahoma.
Lamb shined playing alongside two Heisman-winning quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, as well as National Champion Jalen Hurts. In Lincoln Riley’s offense, the star receiver was a consensus Al-American in 2019 before forgoing his senior season and entering the draft.
Lamb fell to the Cowboys at No. 17, who couldn’t pass up the opportunity. The Oklahoma product shined as a rookie, producing 1,014 scrimmage yards and seven touchdowns. Lamb was in the top 10 in receiving yards in the NFL before Prescott’s injury. The sky is the limit for Lamb, who will be happy to likely have his quarterback back in 2021.
Meanwhile Collins was set to be a first-round and possibly a top-10 pick in 2015 before misconceptions in a murder case led Collins to be undrafted after teams were uncertain of his involvement.
Collins famously fell out of the 2015 draft altogether because of possible legal issues, but his 2014 tape was worthy of a top-10 pick. He earned a 92.2 pass-blocking grade and a 90.7 run-blocking grade while allowing only four pressures in 2014.
After being cleared of any legal issues, Collins signed with the Cowboys and has become the starting right tackle with the team, taking over for the retiring Doug Free. After a successful few years in the role, the LSU standout inked a five-year extension with Dallas in 2019 but will be coming off a hip injury that sidelined him all of 2020.
After a disappointing 2020 season due to injuries and a lack of a real offseason, the trio is poised to produce in 2021, especially with their leader in Prescott back at the helm on offense.
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