Dallas City News

NFL Analyst Bucky Brooks recently shared who he believed were the five biggest threats to break Calvin Johnson’s NFL single-season receiving yards record, a record that has stood for over a decade since 2012. While the five receivers he identified all make sense of a sorts, what didn’t make sense was the exclusion of Dallas Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb.

Lamb is one of the few receivers who has the ability and talent to seriously threaten Johnson’s record of 1,964 yards. No. 88 actually came somewhat close to the record in 2023, amassing 1,749 receiving yards along with 12 touchdowns on 135 receptions, all career highs for him. While those numbers are impressive, they could be even better in 2024.

If you’ve followed along with Lamb’s career, you already know his production has continued to increase across-the-board year after year. Since his rookie season his totals in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns have significantly improved and if that trend continues Johnson’s single-season receiving record could finally fall.

Lamb has somehow managed to increase his receiving yards total by pretty close to 200 yards each season. If he were to continue that trend in 2024, he would at the very least be close to tying Calvin Johnson’s single-season receiving yards record. If he wants to surpass that though he’ll need to average 118 receiving yards in 17 games next year.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

Averaging 118 receiving yards a game sounds like a lot, but might be doable for Lamb in 2024. He is the unquestioned WR1 with the Cowboys and Dak Prescott’s favorite target in the passing game. Not only that, but Dallas’ offense will likely be even more pass-centric due to their questionable decision to go with the RB-by-committee approach this year.

Ezekiel Elliott and the rest of the running backs aren’t going to strike much fear in opposing defensive coordinators. Yes, that could mean they sit back in coverage more, but it also means Prescott will have to rely more on Dallas’ aerial attack to keep the chains moving. If true, that should give Lamb ample opportunity to pad his stats.

Entering the second-year in Mike McCarthy system should also prove beneficial to Lamb’s journey to break Johnson’s record in 2024. Being more familiar/comfortable with McCarthy’s play-calling should help him get off to a better start than he did a season ago when he surprisingly only had one 100-yard receiving game in the first five weeks.

To sum it all up, it looks as if everything is in place for Lamb to possibly have a historic record-breaking season in 2024. With his talent/ability, his proven production that continues to improve each season, and his role within the offensive scheme hitting the 2,000-yard receiving mark this season is a possibility.

You can call it a bold prediction or wishful thinking, but considering No. 88’s ability/talent and how he’s continued to improve each season since entering the league, there’s no reason to believe Lamb doesn’t have a tremendous 2024 season. Whether or not it ends up being a record-breaking one though is something we will have to wait to find out.