The Dallas Cowboys already had the big-time wide receiver in CeeDee Lamb, but not necessarily the downfield threat. Their trade for George Pickens should be a difference maker in the 2025 NFL season.
The Dallas Cowboys made the right move by trading for wide receiver George Pickens, basically acknowledging what was missing in their offense: A receiver who thrives on the outside.
CeeDee Lamb is a phenomenal receiver who has tallied over 1,100 yards in each of the past four seasons, but he’s been most effective and utilized as an inside receiver. Only 42.1% of his 152 targets came outside the numbers in 2024.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys hadn’t found a clear-cut outside pass catcher. Jalen Tolbert has been fine and was relatively effective in 2024 with 610 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, but his 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame isn’t ideal for going up against defenders on the boundary. He’s suited more as a downfield burner.
Enter Pickens – a perfect complement to Lamb as an outside, downfield receiver. He was obtained on Wednesday along with a 2027 sixth-round NFL Draft pick when the Cowboys sent a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Steelers.
First, the raw numbers: Pickens finished with 900 receiving yards last season despite missing three games, putting him over 800 in each of his first three seasons. In that time, he’s hauled in 174 receptions for 2,841 yards and 12 touchdowns, ranking 42nd, 22nd and tied for 46th, respectively, in the NFL.
That’s vastly more productive than the wide receivers other than Lamb on the Cowboys’ depth chart: Tolbert, Jonathan Mingo, Jalen Brooks and KaVontae Turpin.
That alone is good enough to make the trade, but Pickens’ ability to produce outside the numbers, downfield and on routes the Cowboys have struggled with are even more indicative of it.
George Pickens as an Outside Threat
At 6-3, 200 pounds, Pickens is a bit undersized outside the numbers, but he’s performed well when targeted there.
That’s where he’s lived as a pass catcher, too: More than 70% of Pickens’ targets and 80% of his air yards were at this location, compared to Lamb who was mostly inside the numbers or between the hash marks when targeted.
This is important because defenses can quickly learn how to jam up the middle of the field if the Cowboys continue to pepper Lamb or tight end Jake Ferguson. While Lamb can do well outside the numbers, the Cowboys like to utilize his skill set as a mismatch for defenders.
Bringing Pickens to Dallas opens up another element of the offense without having to pull Lamb to the outside. Pickens can be the primary outside receiver alongside Tolbert and leave Lamb in his element.
George Pickens as a Downfield Threat
While Lamb and Tolbert are solid targets down the field, Pickens has been one of the best in the league.
He tied for the fourth-most combined go and out routes in the NFL this past season. He finished with 20 targets on out routes alone (the 19th most in the league) and the second-most go routes with 23.
While Pickens’ burn and open rates weren’t necessarily the best in the league, they were still on par with Lamb on those routes. His 0.8 burn yards per go route also ranked sixth in the league and his 364 burn yards on go routes ranked seventh.
The Cowboys as a team rarely attempted these types of passes, ranking 28th in out routes and 19th in go routes last season. The presence of Pickens allows for these types of players to be featured more often now.
Additionally, Pickens was great on passes that traveled at least 10 air yards downfield. Among 74 receivers with at least 100 routes run of passes of 10+ air yards, Pickens ranked 12th in targets and ninth in burn yards per target.
Of that same group, Lamb’s 10+ air yards targets ranked 22nd, while Tolbert’s ranked 60th. Their burned yards per target ranked 20th and 18th, respectively.
Upgrading the Route Tree
One of Pickens’ specialty moves was a weak point for the Cowboys last season. Their receivers were targeted the third-most times on curl routes, but finished 26th in burn rate and 20th in open rate on those routes.
Pickens can help fix that. His 60.9% burn rate ranked 11th among 32 receivers with at least 20 targets on curls. His 91.3% open rate ranked second behind only Terry McLaurin.
Lamb ranked 23rd and 28th, respectively, among those 32 receivers, while the rest of the Cowboys’ receivers also performed worse than Pickens.
Pickens was also solid on corners and slants – two other routes the Cowboys weren’t great at last season. He had a 54.5% burn rate and 72.7% open rate on 11 slant routes versus the Cowboys’ 45.3% burn rate and 49.1% open rate on 53 total targets.
On corner routes, Pickens finished with a 83.3% burn rate and 66.7% open rate on just six targets, while Cowboys receivers had a 52.6% burn rate and 47.5% open rate on 19 targets.
Who’s Passing the Ball
The final element to consider is who will be passing to Pickens in 2025.
Dak Prescott is expected to return after a hamstring injury prematurely ended his 2024 season, and he will immediately be the best quarterback Pickens has played with in his NFL career. Pickens’ previous QBs included Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, Justin Fields and the 2024 version of Russell Wilson – not a great group.
Assuming Prescott returns to healthy form, Prescott is well-equipped to exploit Pickens’ route tree. Prescott’s career 62.3% completion rate outside the numbers ranks second among 18 quarterbacks with at least 200 attempts in that direction since 2016. Meanwhile, Prescott’s 70.1% well-thrown rate and 71.9% catchable ball rate rank ninth and tied for seventh, respectively.
With Brian Schottenheimer still at the offensive controls, this is a Cowboys team primed for the big play. George Pickens unlocks that feature more than ever before.
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