- Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones does not have the best history when it comes to making draft picks.
- So, when he took CeeDee Lamb in the first round of the 2020 draft, fans were surprised.
- But the reason why he took Lamb is more surprising than the fact that he did.
Dallas Cowboys fans had good reason to be worried heading into the 2020 NFL Draft. Their team’s owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, was going it alone for the Draft. He could have set up a conference call and had a virtual ‘war room,’ but he opted to do it himself.
With his history of questionable draft selections, fans were worried Jones might do something crazy. As luck would have it, though, something crazy did happen. Jones nailed it with the team’s first-round pick, Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Could we all have it wrong? Is Jerry Jones actually a great GM? Skip Bayless seems to think so:
“My Dallas Cowboys managed to pull off the steal of the 1st round. CeeDee Lamb is a flat-out alpha No.1 receiver. Jerry Jones has done an underrated great job of drafting over the last decade.”
— @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/26vxI3WJk2
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) April 24, 2020
Fans were not sure what was more shocking—the fact Lamb was still on the board that late in the first round or that Jones picked him. As it turns on, what was truly shocking was the reason he did.
The Method to the Madness That Brought CeeDee Lamb to the Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys were expected to take LSU defensive end, K’Lavon Chaisson, with the No. 17 pick. But when it came time to do so, Jones had a dilemma. Select a player the team needs (Chaisson) or take the best player on the board (Lamb).
Most analysts thought Lamb was going to go inside of the top ten. So, the fact that he was available was a bit shocking. But what was more surprising was how Jones made the decision:
He picked a guy because his grandson told him to and because he happened to have the same last name as an old friend. It had nothing to do with production, need, talent, or the intangibles.
It was his grandson and a coincidence.
Jerry Jones Says the Darndest Things!
The real question is whether Jones needed his grandson to point out Lamb’s stats or if he already knew. It seems like a ridiculous question to ask, but not when you remember Quincy Carter, Shante Carver, David LaFleur, Bobby Carpenter, and Taco Charlton.
The whole grandson/Lamb story could be another of the many silly, quirky things Jerry Jones has said over the years. Longtime fans will remember what he said about Troy Aikman back in 1989 after taking him with the No. 1 pick: “All I can say right now is he looks good in the shower.”
The shower, incidentally, is also where Jones happens to think about Dez Bryant a lot.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
