ESPN’s ranking of Dallas Cowboys WR duo George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb tells us something important about 2026

By admin — In News — July 16, 2026

   ​The Dallas Cowboys wide receiver duo set the tone in 2025. Both believe they’re co-one wide receivers on offense, but George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb may be gearing up for a great bragging rights battle.The Dallas Cowboys have two top-10 wide receivers according to ESPN’s latest positional rankings, and the fact that George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb landed at Nos. 6 and 7, respectively, says more about the 2026 season than any preseason depth chart ever could. ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler polled more than 70 anonymous NFL scouts, coaches, and executives to rank the top 10 players at each position. On Wednesday, wide receivers got the spotlight, and Dallas unsurprisingly placed two names on the list.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe positioning alone is revealing.First of all, what caught my eye beyond the final rankings was the range. Lamb’s highest individual ranking was third. Pickens’ was fifth. And for both players, at least one voter left them off the list entirely. If you ask me, those voters have got to be removed from Fowler’s list ahead of next year. But we’re not here to discuss that.Listen, I kind of understand having Pickens unranked as the lowest vote. Now, I don’t think I would have done it. I can’t list 10 wide receivers right now who are better than Pickens. But I understand if you want to attack it from the angle of needing to see it again, or questioning whether one elite season makes a trend. With Lamb, though? I just don’t understand it. Lamb is clearly one of the best wide receivers in the game, and a player who dictates coverages every single week (and has for a good while).AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHere’s what matters the most from the ESPN rankings, though. Lamb got sixth place while Pickens sat at seventh. That’s right, the NFL sees them almost exactly the same. This isn’t necessarily surprising, but it is telling.Cowboys fans and media members spent all of 2025 debating who the No. 1 wide receiver on this team was. Lamb set the tone early when Pickens was traded to Dallas, saying he didn’t want to be the No. 1 while Pickens was the No. 2. He said it clearly: they are co-No. 1 wide receivers.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt the time, I thought there was no way Lamb truly believed that. I figured he was being a good teammate to the new kid in town. But it became pretty difficult to argue Pickens wasn’t the top option at times, because he absolutely was.A lot of that had to do with Lamb dealing with an early-season ankle issue that resulted in his worst statistical season since his rookie year. He still put up 1,077 receiving yards and three touchdowns in 14 games. Pickens, meanwhile, posted 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns in 17 games. In first downs, Pickens bested Lamb 73 to 43. Advanced metrics like EPA and success rate painted the same picture: Pickens was one of the best wide receivers in all of football.All of this sets up a compelling race, and I don’t want to make it sou  

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