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Since Bob Stoops took the reigns of the Oklahoma Sooners, hired a quirky offensive coordinator by the name of Mike Leach and changed the offensive landscape of college football forever, many a talented wide receiver has called Norman, Okla. home. When you think of OU in the 21st century, names such as Sterling Shepard, Ryan Broyles, Mark Clayton, Marquise Brown, Dede Westbrook, Kenny Stills and Malcolm Kelly come to mind. However, none of these have players possessed a skill set as complete as the one 2020 first-round NFL Draft hopeful CeeDee Lamb brings to the table.
CeeDee Lamb’s Story
Richmond (Texas) Foster product Cedarian Lamb first received an offer from the Sooners on Oct. 7 of 2015, and a commitment to OU occurring roughly two months later. What ensued in the spring of 2016 was a barrage of offers from around the country, including LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Florida, which brought about a decision to step away from his original commitment with the purpose of reevaluating things. He’d eventually recommit to the Sooners that July, and after fending off late interest from Texas, OU would secure his signature.
Lamb really put on a show during his senior season of high school, earning District MVP honors while finishing with the second-highest single-season number of touchdown catches (33) and the fourth-highest single-season receiving yards total (2,046) in Texas high school football history. Even at the highly-competitive 5A level, Lamb was a man amongst children.
During his youth, Lamb’s uncle Chester Ramirez Jr. was one of his biggest supporters, and he credits him with pushing him to reach his goals. Unfortunately, Ramirez passed away when Lamb was 17, but the elite WR has kept his memory close to his heart ever since.
CeeDee Lamb wears a No. 32 chain in honor of his late uncle in every game.
— NFL (@NFL) April 19, 2020
And he'll have his uncle's memory close to his heart on @NFLDraft night too. ❤️ @_CeeDeeThree
: 2020 @NFLDraft, April 23-25 on NFLN/ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/Q67TWmrejP
Lamb had the physical tools to make in immediate impact after stepping foot on campus, which allowed him to become just the third true freshman in school history to start the season opener at wide receiver. After recording his first career TD reception in the season-opening victory over UTEP, he played a key role in Oklahoma’s upset victory at Ohio State. With five key receptions for 61 yards, the young phenom proved that no moment would ever be too big for him, and he would continue to be a reliable target for Baker Mayfield during his Heisman Trophy-winning run.
Lamb would go on to record 46 receptions for 807 yards (an OU freshman record) and seven touchdowns during his freshman campaign, which earned him an ESPN Freshman All-America nod as well as the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year award. Things got even better during his sophomore season, as he upped his production to 65 catches for 1,158 yards and a team-leading 11 TD receptions. Although his team didn’t come out on the winning end of the national semifinal battle with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Lamb catapulted himself into the early 2020 NFL Draft conversation with a dominant second-half performance to close out the season.
As a junior, Lamb would indeed cement himself as a sure-fire first-round pick, displaying proficiency in every single area of his game. As always, he displayed the physicality needed to win one-on-one battles with talented corners, but his route running and open-field abilities (which were already impressive) went to another level in his final season at Oklahoma. Additionally, Lamb continued to be a devastating downfield blocker — something that has become a staple for Oklahoma receivers over the past several years. He would end the season as a Consensus All-American and a Biletnikoff Award finalist after recording 62 receptions for 1,327 yards (21.4 per catch) and 14 TDs.
Lamb ran a 4.5 40, recorded a 34.5-inch vertical and 124-inch broad jumb, but he truly provided his combine highlights during the receiving drills.
CeeDee Lamb did CeeDee Lamb things at the NFL Combine.
— Sooner Gridiron (@soonergridiron) March 3, 2020
"That's smooth. You can tell that's a natural receiver right there." — Michael Irvin#OUDNA | #BoomerSoonerpic.twitter.com/m3f27kOWmR
Draft Projections
In his final mock draft, SB Nation’s Dan Kadar has Lamb going 12th overall to the Las Vegas Raiders. Meanwhile, CBS Sports’ Jason La Canforna has him going No. 10 to the Denver Broncos after a potential trade with Cleveland. The critical consensus favors the former, with 48 percent of FantasyPros’ aggregation of mock drafts sending Lamb to play for Jon Gruden.
Highlights