Cowboys WRs George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb Build Unstoppable Chemistry as Preseason Kicks Off

Pickens appears to have left his baggage in Pittsburgh

OXNARD, Calif. -- George Pickens left his baggage at home for his first Dallas Cowboys training camp.

He's far from the wide receiver whom Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told to "grow up" after he was flagged for two personal foul penalties in the middle of the 2024 season. He's bought in to his new team, and his new head coach couldn't be more thrilled.

"I think from the time that we got George, and we went into my office together and shot some free throws, talked and got to know each other, he made that [that he wants to be coached] very clear," Brian Schottenheimer said on Tuesday. "He's like, 'Coach, I'm thrilled to be here, No. 1. I want to be coached. I want to be great. I want to be a great player. I want to continue to be great. So, lean into me. Be tough on me. Tell me the things I need to do.' 

"The way I am, I start with the relationship piece of it because I think you can coach people hard and coach them the right way when you have those relationships, but that doesn't surprise me. He's been nothing but incredible in terms of the way he's worked with us, the way he's communicated with us."

The 24-year-old Pickens has quickly befriended and earned the trust of Cowboys All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, Dallas' No. 1 option in the pass game and the leader of the position group for the first time in his NFL career. 

Lamb relishes that leadership role, but he's fully open to feedback from one wide receiver on the current Cowboys roster: Pickens. It makes sense given Pickens was a dominant downfield weapon as a Pittsburgh Steeler, averaging 16.7 yards per reception across the last two seasons, a metric that leads the entire NFL among 61 players with at least 110 catches since 2023. 

The two were inseparable every Cowboys practice during special teams drills, taking turns off to the side rotating between running routes and using the JUGS machine. After each made a long catch down the field, the other would run up to dish out a celebratory handshake as they jogged back to the Dallas huddle. 

"We embrace every opportunity together with each other, learning from each other," Lamb said on Aug. 8. "If I got a question for him, he answers and vice versa. We just see different things like different POVs. We can't watch each other. Like I can't watch myself, he can't watch himself. So I feel like my input is just as valuable as his to me. Just learning and watching film, man, and just being better every day. That's our mantra for each other."

 

Every professional athlete possesses an ego and supreme self-confidence because without it they wouldn't be performing at the heights that net them millions of dollars to play a children's game for a living. The wide receiver position is notorious for revealing some of the NFL's largest egos because it's a position that isn't guaranteed to touch the ball on every play like the quarterback or even a running back on run plays. 

Thus far, ego hasn't divided Lamb and Pickens in training camp. Lamb was asked about who had corralled the top one-handed catch in training camp between he and Pickens, and he didn't delve into the internal competition angle of that question.  

"It doesn't really matter who has the best one as long as we come down with it," Lamb said.   

A quote like that is why Schottenheimer, who also doubles as the Dallas offensive play-caller, is absolutely thrilled with Lamb and Pickens' dynamic just a few weeks away from the NFL season opener between his Cowboys and the Super Bowl LIX champion Eagles in Philadelphia.  

"I talk about it all the time, but the relationship that [Pickens] and CeeDee have is special," Schottenheimer said."(Wide receivers coach) Junior Adams has done an amazing job of building the culture of his room, and that's something to be talked about. ... Superstars sometimes don't get along. ... Junior has built an amazing culture in that room where guys just want to win and have success, and they don't really care who gets the credit."

Pickens has also earned the trust of three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Dak Prescott out at training camp. In Dallas' joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 5, Prescott repeatedly targeted Pickens in a passing drill from the low red zone (from the 10-yard line and in), tossing up goal line fade ball after goal line fade ball to the 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pound wide receiver. 

That throw has been missing from the Cowboys offense since Jan. 2, 2022 when receiver Michael Gallup tore his ACL against the Arizona Cardinals. Thanks to Pickens, Prescott now has a receiver with the body type and hands to catch that specific throw in tight coverage in the back corners of the end zone.

 

 

Perhaps with Pickens at his disposal, Prescott and his new downfield weapon, along with Lamb, can have the Cowboys quarterback make a return to the NFL MVP conversation by performing similarly to his 2023 campaign -- when Dallas led the NFL in scoring offense (29.9 points per game) and Prescott led the league in passing touchdowns (36). 

A runner-up NFL MVP finish for Prescott, a 12-5 record and an NFC East division title were the result of that season. With a locked in Pickens on board, offensive fireworks could fly once again in Dallas.