Draft Analyst Daniel Jeremiah: 'I Have CeeDee Lamb As My Top Guy'
With less than a week until the NFL Draft kicks off, it seems a foregone conclusion that CeeDee Lamb will be the first Sooner off the board.
But if NFL GM’s are thinking like NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, Lamb may also be the first wide receiver off the board.
“I have CeeDee Lamb as my top guy because of everything he can do,” Jeremiah said in a conference call Thursday. “He can line up outside. He can win versus press coverage with his physicality. He's unbelievable after the catch. He's the best after the catch of the receivers in this draft in my opinion. He can break tackles, he can make you miss, he's ultra competitive.”
Alabama teammates Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs have also received first-round projections. The two stand alongside Lamb as the cream of the crop in this year’s class of wideouts.
But in an interview with CBS Sports, Lamb said he views himself as the unquestioned top pass-catcher. What, in his mind, sets him apart from Jeudy and Ruggs?
“My yards after the catch,” he said. “My versatility. … I can run any route in the route tree that you need. I’m the bigger target. And I’m a go-getter. I love to play football.”
Indeed, Lamb’s open-field ability is truly what makes him special. Over half of his receiving yards in the 2019 season came after the catch, and Sooner Nation will never forget some of the absurd runs he reeled off seemingly every week.
As Jeremiah sees it, the pundits’ perception of Lamb may be a bit skewed. As Jeudy and Ruggs racked up huge numbers against the highly regarded defensive units of the SEC, Lamb received much less acclaim in the pass-heavy, offense-minded Big 12. But Jeremiah doesn’t see the perceived lack of elite competition as a concern.
“I think a lot of people have hit him on the fact that he played in the Big 12 and that's glorified 7-on-7,” said Jeremiah. “[But] against Alabama, he had eight for a buck-09 and a touchdown, and then last year you saw him against LSU in that game, he had 4 for 119 in that game. I don't buy into the fact that he's a product of the Big 12.”
Above all, Jeremiah gets excited by Lamb’s physical ceiling and relentless motor.
“[He’s] somebody that can make plays above the rim,” Jeremiah continued. “He can go up and get the ball down in the red zone. The word that I just keep coming back to over and over again is just competitive, competitive, competitive. And that's why I have him as the top receiver.”
Lamb himself is certainly aware of the stigma that comes with playing wide receiver in the Big 12, and he’s been vocal about his perspective on those concerns.
“I literally live for the moments when I see an SEC team or a top-ranked team,” said the former Biletnikoff Award finalist. “I love those matchups because it gives me the motivation to prove people wrong, which I love doing.”
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