These players are going to get a lot of opportunities with Lamb out.
3 Cowboys' receivers Dak Prescott will target after CeeDee Lamb injury originally appeared on The Sporting News
It's not the season the Dallas Cowboys were envisioning.
Three games in and the team is 1-2 and now will likely be missing CeeDee Lamb after a devastating injury. Lamb suffered a high ankle sprain against the Chicago Bears and is expected to miss at least Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers if not more.
So with Lamb out of the lineup who will Dak Prescott rely on to make big plays? It begins with new arrival George Pickens who has posted the same stat line of 5 receptions for 68 yards and a TD in each of the last two games.
But with Pickens as a given, who else steps up in Lamb's absence? Here's a few names to look out for.
Jalen Tolbert
Dak Prescott will certainly spread the targets more evenly amongst the offense but the receiver who will replace Lamb directly could be the biggest benefactor.
Jalen Tolbert, a 3rd-round wide receiver drafted in 2022 out of South Alabama, has shown improvement each year in the league but not to where some fans would like.
Tolbert finished last season with 49 receptions for 610 yards and 7 touchdowns. He had the WR2 role alongside Lamb but wasn't able to put up big numbers.
The highlight of his season was a game-winning touchdown catch in the final seconds against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Dak Prescott to Jalen Tolbert on FOURTH DOWN 🥶 pic.twitter.com/IIHA7NPPYS
— PFF (@PFF) October 7, 2024
Tolbert didn't have Prescott for most of the year which could be cause for his underwhelming season. On the other hand if the front office had faith in Tolbert they wouldn't have traded for George Pickens in the offseason.
With Lamb hurt, Tolbert will get starter snaps and the chance to prove that he can be a legitimate threat for an offense that needs firepower.
Jake Ferguson
An easy answer to replacing Lamb's production lies not in the wide receiver room, but with the tight ends. Jake Ferguson, fresh off signing a 4-year, $52 million deal in the offseason, should be seeing more targets from Prescott soon.
In fact, Ferguson had a career-high in receptions when Lamb went out against the Bears. He corralled 13 throws for 82 yards. The only unfortunate part for "Ferg" was that his longest catch was for 12 yards and none of them went for touchdowns.
Scoring has been an issue for the tight end as of late. He didn't score for the entire year last season and hasn't hit paydirt this year either. Ferguson was battling a concussion and the loss of his quarterback last season and put up a measly 59 catches for 494 yards.
It wasn't up to the standards he set in 2023-24 but with Prescott back and Lamb battling injury, Ferguson has a chance to prove he's worth that contract extension.
Prescott has found success targeting tight ends over the years. From Jason Witten to Dalton Schultz and now Jake Ferguson, it could be a connection you see even more with Lamb out of the lineup.
KaVontae Turpin
KaVontae Turpin is listed as a wide receiver but is much more of a gadget player. Now with Lamb's injury, he could actually be forced to play more at the wideout position.
The kick returner found some success within the offense last season catching 31 passes for 420 yards and 2 touchdowns. When Lamb was ruled out, Turpin caught 2 passes for 64 yards against the Bears.
Lamb finds a lot of success in the slot and Turpin matches that strength. He's not a contested catch player along the sideline but if you can give the 5-foot-9 speedster the ball with grass in front he can get the most out of the play.
Look for Brian Schottenheimer and the Cowboys' coaching staff to draw up more opportunities to get Turpin into open space and let him go to work.
KaVontae Turpin as the Cowboys WR3/RB2 is a fun time pic.twitter.com/jG2S6REe1w
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) September 18, 2025
Dallas has other weapons like Jonathan Mingo, who they traded for last season, and Ryan Flournoy, who had 2 receptions for 21 yards against the Bears, but these three names should be the most focused on outside of Pickens.
Dak Prescott should be able to distribute his targets and keep the offense afloat but the quicker Lamb can get back, the better.
MORE: Why Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens face NFL discipline ahead of week 3
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