Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb says Dallas’ offense is all in Dak Prescott’s hands going into 2023

Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb recently joined Shan and RJ on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM] to discuss how much the team’s offense has changed since Mike McCarthy took over play-calling and the control Dak Prescott has on the plays that are called.

Here are some highlights, edited for clarity:

What are some traits or intangibles that stand out about Dak Prescott’s game?

Lamb: “An ultimate leader, of course. But besides that, he’s a great teammate. He’s very aggressive and the way — he wants to win. That’s everybody and he’s looking for the deep ball now.

“This is a warning to everybody: If you’re not gonna back up, good luck.”

What are some of the changes to the offense with Mike McCarthy vs. Kellen Moore?

Lamb: “Really not much. Different play-calling, of course, but it’s a lot more simple. All the offense is in Dak’s hands now, it’s not necessarily being called from Mike or [Kellen] since last year but now it’s all on Dak. However he’s feeling versus the coverage, if he likes the matchup we’re gonna call that play. Whatever he likes versus zone, he’s gonna call that play.

“Technically it’s all in Dak’s hands. We’re moving much faster, at a different pace. Just the ability to go out there and play freely, you could see it. It’s fun.”

Are there more changes that Prescott is making at the line of scrimmage compared to previous years?

Lamb: “Absolutely, way more. This is going on my fourth year, but the past three, this is the most in control of the offense that I’ve seen Dak. Obviously he can make a lot more changes, but going into the line of scrimmage, us as receivers, we know the other two or three options that he has to change to. With that, I feel like that opens up the game, that opens up Dak’s mind and he doesn’t feel so closed off — predicated to that one play that’s being called.

“Granted, the defense could give us man coverage and we call a zone play, it’s obviously not going to work, right? Now he has the opportunity to go from man to zone, back to man. It could go either way. Just the ability to read the defense, read the coverage and see what he likes versus the defense. It’s really Dak versus the D-coordinator.”

When you hear that you guys need to improve your communication, what does that mean to you?

Lamb: “Communication could mean anything, right? In terms of football, it’s verbal and nonverbal. He could switch a play without even saying anything. Therefore, nobody knows what’s going on. He could be checking the protection, but also talking to us. It would change our route to a different angle or just change the whole play. I feel like we were lacking a lot of that last year, granted that we were high on the communication but it’s definitely instilled in this offense, instilled on this team. We’ve been working on communication since San Fran.

“Being on the same page is probably the most important thing in the NFL because everybody’s good, everybody’s talented, everybody makes plays. The only edge that you can have is being on the same page and having that crazy timing. Timing beats anything.”

Listen to the full interview here.

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