CeeDee Lamb's Contract Extension + Which WR Will Have the Better Season?

what's up everybody Welcome to move the sticks DJ Buck back with you Buck uh we are Marching towards week one of the college season uh after a fun couple games there on week zero we've got the NFL uh just a little more than a week away uh right now but man it's it's right here man it's such a long offseason but I'm so glad we've made it this far here I'm really glad that we made it like DJ this is um kind of the time that you look forward to uh the beginning of the Season everyone believes they still have a chance uh all of the work that you've seen done over the course of the offseason in training camp uh teams being made we get a chance to kind of look at um like how teams are really built versus how we kind of philosophize about how teams should be built and which teams to do it and then the college football game just brings a completely different thing because we talk about prospects while also having our own personal fandom with the college game I don't if there's a better time when it comes to football than right now where we're at at the end of August yeah no I'm I'm fired up super excited about this thing to get it get it going um today's episode it's going to be a little bit of a mini pod but we are going to do a wide receiver pod so we're going to talk about a contract that got done uh one that's still yet to get done as well as uh we're g to play who would you rather have here between h two wi outs and I'm going to go down the list we're going to hit you rapid fire with guys and uh and see who you like to have a better year this coming year uh that'll be a fun conver ation let's start first of all here CD lamb gets done I don't think this surprises anybody uh we kind of felt like this was inevitable four years 136 million uh makes him the second highest paid non QB in NFL history uh $38 million signing bonus largest ever to a white out also receives 100 million guaranteed so he's 34 per uh Jefferson is at 35 per so he comes in right behind him but a big number again showing that wide receivers are valued a little differently than running backs in the National Football League you know DJ what's crazy about that is um you know we just seen it like just the since we've been in the league um just the shift in terms of how people view The Playmakers it has always been perceived to be a bit of a Passing League because even when we were starting in the 2000s in terms of team building it was about the quarterback the left tackle and those things but it still was a little more run Centric in terms of who we paid there was that draft where what was it like all those running backs that went off the board uh Ronnie Brown and CAC Williams and those guys Cedric Benson uh but now to see it where wide receivers it's about the quarterback the wide receivers and the left tackle or the pass protectors um I I never would have thought that people would pay that much for a wide receiver and it's happening at a time when the college game is producing more Instant Star wide receivers than we've ever seen uh I just think we're we're we're about to hit a Crossroads when it comes to the position but it's no no doubt that it's a marquee position when it comes to the team building landscape man when you look at CD lamb go back to when he came out Buck um he was my top receiver in that class I gave him a 69ine which is a huge grade to give a wide out uh my ninth overall player to to remember kind of what he was he was 6015 so just under 62 198 pounds he ran 45 flat another uh Elite receiver running with a five as the second number which is something we've always harped on on here it's not necessarily a negative it means that they can play at that speed getting in and out of breaks but um the notes tall lean he's got excellent hands toughness and production he can play inside he can play outside not huge speed but big time Yak uh he can make you miss and he will break tackles toughness competitive instinctive um just he's a he's a number one he's a number one is a number one as a number one all around can do everything can play Above the Rim if you want him to can win in crowds uh again I just thought it was interesting going back and looking at that I mean how many times have we talked about these white outs running 453 454 457 452 uh you know you go through the process and that that's one of the things we we always look back and say hey you got to learn your mistake learn from your mistakes um and like a one like that okay guys ran faster than him in that draft I thought he was the best receiver in that draft now obviously Jefferson has has been unbelievable and is is the only person making more than him at the position but the speed it look put it to the side this guy played very fast he did play fast and you know going back to that draft the thing about CD lamb was about his playmaking ability his ability to make things happen after the catch uh the move to the slot uh since he's been in Dallas being able to play in the slot and outside all of those things he's uniquely talented and a very unique number one because of I would say the flexibility that he has I would say as a route Runner he has improved because I didn't think he was the most polished route Runner coming out of the system in Oklahoma I think he's improved as a route Runner but make no mistake about it when it comes to that position playmaking reign supreme guys that can make plays guys that can produce the explosive plays the chunk plays uh they're the ones that are getting paid um the next guy that is up is Jamar Chase and I can't wait to see how the Cincinnati Bengals handle him in terms of how do you pay him how he's compensated because all of these guys are actually redefining the number one receiver you know even Aman rain Brown and those guys because DJ before we would never pay a slot receiver number one wide receiver money and now we're seeing that happen it's just an interesting time in a league that is really pass Centric the the wide receiver position has just exploded when it comes to the the market um yeah the money is uh is outstanding for those guys going back to that draft that 2020 draft which was stacked with white outs I had six of them in my top 27 okay so this will show you the imperfect science here and again I talked about having CD as my top guy okay you can pat yourself on the back for that but then I go and look at who my second guy was Jerry Judy I had Jerry Judy is the second white out in that draft class now it hasn't worked out for him we'll see what happens with his next stop here in Cleveland um followed by Henry rugs we know you know the the tragedy that took place there um and uh just a sad just a really sad situation um but then I had Justin Jefferson Brandon iuk T Higgins so I mean lamb Jefferson auk Higgins that's pretty darn good but then you get in there somebody in Jerry Judy who's hoping to find it um on his second home and then obviously unforeseen um you know a terrible decision made by Henry rugs off the field which which cost him more than just his playing career yeah no um DJ it it's funny when you look back at that class and and um we can talk about Jerry Judy falling out but Jerry Judy signed a big time contract with the Cleveland Browns I mean he got he got paid it wasn't like top of the market but he he got a significant chunk of cheese uh when it comes to it and I think more than ever when we go back and we start looking at wide receivers I think it's gonna be really important for us despite what grades we give on them to be able to accurately Define what we believe they will be in the league in terms of are they a number one or number two because their differences so and looking at Jerry Judy did we see him as a number one or did we see him as a guy that was more of the uh compliment wide receiver I think for Scouts it's going to be a job now that requires us to drill down a little deeper when we evaluating guys and to put them in the right buckets um I think at the end of our time when we were working with teams we started to see that third wide receiver come up where you kind of put guys as the slot receiver I thing now we're going to have to define the receivers that we evaluated in the draft and talk about are they outside or inside guys and then even dubbed them one two and threes in terms of how are they or how should they be in the pecking order with the teams that they go to other thing is you know we we use comps a lot we talk about comps we did it as Scouts we do it on here and I know people there's a group of people which I've never understood they just hate comparisons and they you know it's just the worst thing you could ever do to compare somebody it's help and I'll give you an example I'm looking through my notes on that class so my comp for Justin Jefferson I said he's a faster Keenan Allen like think about Keenan Allen you know with his uh you know size and and ability to run routs and separate and then think of just adding a little turbo pack to him you know that's kind of what he reminded me of and it's really what he's looked like um when I look at T Higgins ironically the same ended up being the same team but I said I'm I'm hoping he's going to be an AJ Green like receiver rang Above the Rim best on the Move um you know he's a smooth long Strider and that's kind of the type of career that he's had that's a great comparison and I think what people have to understand when we talk about comparisons like people think we're talking about comparing them in terms of like what their playing career is going how they going to end up playing throughout the career but really what you're trying to do is you're trying to paint a picture for a decision making in terms of this guy comes in when we close our eyes who is he going to play like so when you talk about AJ Green to me there's a clear picture because AJ Green came out with Julio Jones right so I were guys and so the comparison between the two Julio Jones was the rugged physical overwhelming overpowering explosive track athlete playing wide receiver AJ Green was to take it off the rim linear slender but just smooth in terms of what he did T Higgins that's a really good comparison because like when I close my eyes and I think of T Higgins being the basketball player and the things that he did at Clemson yeah that's a very um valid comparison we want to do those things and as evaluators that's what we should do because we are trying to paint the picture so you can Envision what the player is going to be at the next level yeah no it's uh it's helpful it doesn't always you know perfectly match up but you can see kind of at least what the vision was uh for those players so uh there was still some other interesting wide outs going through that draft that was a man that was a really really good wide receiver draft that one was there in uh in 2020 as you mentioned uh briefly there let's wait for Chase to get paid uh let's see what he's end up getting I mean if I'm Jamar Chase I know he's got two years left and that you know um maybe the Bengals tell him hey it's not happening but he's back practicing um if a deal is going to get done if I'm Jamar Chase I want to be the number one dude man um I'm I'm not settling for anything less than that well because of the way his contract is he should want to be the number one dude now they can spread that out and ease some of the burd on the cap they can spread that they can tack that on to the end of his thing to make sure he gets the signing bonus now but the average looks like it should because I would say this is in his favor the market ever goes down no it only goes up and so uh today's prices are not tomorrow's prices and so so if the top of the market is at 35 he would know that if I wait I'mma get to 36 or 37 annually so if you're going get me that like tack it on to what it but that's what it's going to be because next year is really the year that he would be up to get his deal um he has to exhibit a little patience and restraint and the Bengals have to find a way to meet them halfway so both of those guys have to be willing to do a deal that puts him where he needs to be at the top of the market while also giving the Bengals a break for giving him his money probably soon soon ER than it should be given it to him yeah no doubt um all right let's take the let's take a quick break we come back I'm going to hit you up with some comps uh in terms of player versus player who would you rather have this year at the wide receiver position we'll jump into that right after this break all right Buck you not know what's coming your way so you are Flying Blind on this and I want to get it's not it's not blink because we'll have the discussion it's not a blink scouting uh operation but this is the game I'm GNA give you two names and then I need you to say who you think is going to have the better 2024 season so we're not necessarily saying okay long-term who would you rather have or you know who do you think is the more talented player I'm saying based off everything that they have around them and what they you know what they possess this who's going to have the better year you ready to go yeah let's do it all right I'm starting out none of these are easy first one Tyreek Hill versus Justin Jefferson who has the better 2024 Tyreek Hill because of the quarterback situation only in terms of thei familiarity between uh T and tungo and Tyreek Hill they've worked together they spent two years together they kind of know how they're gonna get down I think it's easier to say that he's going to have more success uh Sam Donnell and Justin Jefferson that' be a nice connection but I still think they have to go through some groin pains before we can see it maximized from a production standpoint yeah I don't think it's just cut and dry easy I think if if you had Kurt Cousins back there again and you had that familiarity that it would be you know I could point towards you know Justin Jefferson being that guy man um that's difficult it's a it's a tough one for me because I do think even with all the other pieces they have in place in Minnesota that thing I mean I I saw it you know there in person when they were playing the Chargers last year I mean the ball just gets they can Kevin ell knows how to get him the ball he can funnel him the ball um and I think with Sam darnold having never really had a toy like this um it can be tempting like hey you know you got some other presents you can play with some of those other presents no no no no that's my favorite one I'm just my favorite toy toy yeah I I get so I'll jump on the other side of that uh I I'll say Justin Jefferson although you know look Tyreek Hill uh I mean he's the most dynamic player in the league hands down no question but uh there's still a lot of other uh pieces in place there um it's I look they're both gonna have monster years I'll probably splitting hairs here but I'll say that Sam darnold knowing that this is his career kind of on the line this year and it's all lined up that he's going to have his uh he'll be his binky he'll be his little Binky and he's going to uh he's going to invest heavily in targets to Justin Jefferson look I I dig it I understand it I also like it but um Kevin ell's playmaking ability is certainly going to get Justin Jefferson a ton of touches um itance see how it plays out because we are all banking on Sam darell being the best version that we've seen in the league uh those numbers that Tyreek Hill puts up annually though are ridiculous yeah they're stupid it's you 17700 put it in the bank um all right this next one is an interesting one uh a couple guys that we've uh we've talked about here cidi lamb uh versus Jamar Chase who has the bigger year oh cidd lamb versus Jamar Chase well CD lamb because he's the I I would say he's kind of the only show in town no disrespect to Brandon Cooks but I mean CD lamb is guaranteed that he is going to get 10 to 12 targets tonight uh Jamar Chase is a little different because T Higgins is on the other side uh Joe B is a little more I would say willing to distribute all over I think Dak Prescott Mike McCarthy and all those guys know what is on the line because all those guys are like improve it years well if I'm Mike McCarthy I'm going down with my best guys getting the ball so if we don't win you're gonna say hey Jerry you know what we didn't get as far as we wanted to in the playoffs but look at the production of your stars Dak Prescott had a remarkable year CD lamb put up ridiculous numbers I'm gonna go that way so that's why I'm G lean towards CD lamb yeah you look at uh at Jamar Chase's numbers last year 100 grabs 1216 yards seven touchdowns and that's obviously without Joe burrow uh for the majority of that so you get Joe burrow back I think these numbers jump even though there are other options in that offense I think just him and Joe being together healthy um you look look at his rookie year 81 for 1455 yards 13 touchdowns I know he's got that he's got that ability in him um so I do think that that chase has the best year of his career um but you mentioned it I mean that's that billboard only has one name on it in uh in Dallas and that's cidd lamb so yeah I I'll say cidd ends up having a bigger year there um all right this is an interesting one Garrett Wilson versus AJ Brown uh let's go Garrett Wilson and let's go Garrett Wilson because I think Gary Wilson is the Dependable reliable option in the Jets passing game uh Mike Williams is the xfactor and I think with Aaron Rogers Aaron Rogers finds comfort in the guy that he's work with the most in practices and those things and when you go back and you look at the Aaron Aaron Rogers work with Devonte Adams and other number ones that he's had the numbers have been ridiculous so let's go with Garrett Wilson in that situation yeah I don't really have much to add there I I love uh the group the collection of players they have in Philadelphia but I think Garrett Wilson is clearly he's going to be A- rods guy so I'll go with Garrett Wilson on that one uh all right let's go a couple more here I'm goingon to give you some some kind of obscure ones here Drake London versus DK metf who has a better year DK metf uh Ryan Grub's offense um I think they unlock the vertical passing game like we saw with udub udub had three receivers and they all ate they all were fed uh you thinking about McMillan pulk adun they all got it I expect to see the same version and Gino Smith is underrated in terms of what he should be able to do in this offense this offense is a perfect fit for how he likes to push the ball down the field I think DK metf reemerges as one of those Premier Playmakers on the outside yeah I'll go to the other side of it um last year Drake London I'm pulling up his numbers here 69 grabs 905 yards he only had two touchdowns this this is someone who is capable of so much more I think he's got a lot more in his body than what we've seen and I think finally having stability at the quarterback position I think you see his numbers jump way way up and I think the touchdowns too um DK I'll kind of split hairs here I'll say DK might get you more yards I'm going to say Drake London that that he's a he's gonna have a big touchdown year so I'm gonna say Drake London is uh and again I think maybe just a little somebody's more a little bit on the climb I'm not saying DK's on The Descent I'm saying DK is kind of stabilized steady uh where I think Drake is gonna end up you know he's gonna end up climbing the ladder a little bit uh couple more left here Jaylen Wadd versus DJ Moore two guys that are in in offenses with a lot of weapons uh man let's go DJ Moore and I like jayen Wadd as the number two in Miami I think DJ Moore is the number one though in Chicago even though Keenan Allen comes over and Rome is there I think the pecking order is about DJ Moore first so I look for Caleb Williams to start the mission giving the ball to DJ Moore and those other guys fill in so I I would expect DJ Moore's numbers to be around that 1250 to 13300 number as opposed to look Jayden W's numbers are going to be there I I just I just think DJ Moore is probably gonna get more targets more opportunities yeah that's fair I'll take the other side of it and just say Jaylen Wadd just because I think they hit the ground running I think the Bears this might take a little bit just to kind of get in Rhythm and figure out how to best use everybody how to utilize Caleb um there's just a lot of newness there in Chicago so I think there maybe is a little adjustment period there I can't wait to watch them I think they're going to be exciting to watch but I'm going to say that Miami just they hit the ground running because the familiarity that they have and that allows Wadd to kind of get out and look every game plan even though people haven't been able to do it it always starts with Tyreek Hill jayen wad is gonna get a lot of favorable matchups so I'll lean that way no it make it makes sense it makes sense um to kind of take that approach and to kind of do it um that way they look we know and Mike McDaniel's offense there're going to be plenty of opportunities for those guys on the outside to touch it because t two are talking about as a RPO specialist and it kind of worked with a skill set yep uh this last one is kind of a weird one uh I'll come out with that because you wouldn't expect these names to kind of be together um but last year and I'll give you the numbers last year Terry McClaren had 79 catches for a,2 yards and four touchdowns um I'm gonna go Terry McClaren or someone who has a rookie flashed big time last year before he got hurt tank Dell who has a better year um McLaren I'm I'm such a huge believer in Jaden Daniels uh I think the numbers are going to be through the roof for him he is look I know most people are leaning towards Caleb Williams as the offensive Rook of the year I think jayen Daniels put some numbers that makes it really really hard for uh the voters to give it unanimously to Caleb Williams so let's go Jaden Daniels being able to find scary Terry on the outside putting up stupid numbers all right um that's a fair fair assessment last year buck in 11 games tank Dell had 47 catches 709 yards and seven touchdowns I think personally just watching them when he was playing last year even knowing what Nico Collins is um and and obviously we know they bring on Stefan Diggs I think he's the toughest cover on that team tank Dell when he's out there and healthy seven touchdowns in 11 games last year like he can he could very easily with CJ strad and then knowing the other weapons that they have there now he not probably not going to cat 100 Balls but I could see him having an 80 catch year and catching like 13 touchdowns like that that would not Shock me at all but tank Dell's got to get out there he's the little guy he's got to stay healthy but I think he could have a a monster year I'm just saying when you watch those games when he was when he was out there on the field last year it was like holy crap nobody can cover this dude no look it it does look different but they got another mouth to feed and that mouth is very is very vocal very vocal ston Diggs is very vocal all those balls can't go to Nico Collins and T without Stefan say hey man don't forget about me making $20 million not just to run uh routes got I'll just I'll close this little mini pod with this last quote which is I don't remember who it's attributed to but my favorite receiver is the one who's open uh that's that's all that CJ strout has to say on that one and I'm telling you tank Dell is gonna get more separation than any receiver they have no offense to those guys those are two great players but that dude he can create separation like a son of a gun now oh he have AB now he's a jitterbug in space now he finds a way to kind of create space and and wiggle he he's he's a handful yeah I think there's a special category receiver I call sound effect receivers when you're watching them you're like that's take though for me um all right that's going to do it for us today we've got we've got another pod coming your way and uh man I'm so pumped for next week to get here because we'll have the rookie draft back uh R will join us for those we've got previews coming your way we'll have college football to recap uh we we will preview a little bit of this weekend college football in the next episode so uh just a fun time all the way around appreciate you guys hanging with us see you next time right here on mov sticks [Music]