Dallas Cowboys' One Big Question: Can George Pickens Save Dallas' Dismal Offense?

Pickens has no such issues; torching cornerbacks on the boundary as the X-iso guy is what he wakes up in the morning built to do. Especially when he has the opposing defense's best cornerback pressed right up on him from the snap. 

"Huge," Prescott said in May of the Pickens addition. "Huge, yeah, very huge. I mean — just look at that guy's tape. You see what he does, the kind of receiver that he is, he's going to win a one-on-ones. He can win 2 vs. 1 if he has to. Very, very talented guy when you can add him alongside of CeeDee and the rest of the weapons that we have… I'm super excited."

Now, the only question is how the target share will work. Lamb is more of the technician to Pickens’ wild-card, and he’s also more of a slot receiver. Outside of Amari Cooper in 2020 and 2021, Lamb's first two NFL seasons, Lamb has never had a “second banana” with this much athletic potential on the field, and Cooper was not this purely explosive even in his prime. Putting Lamb and Pickens on the same side of the formation will create all kinds of headaches for defensive backs and defensive coordinators by the sheer force of their ideal deployments.

"Yeah, I think it's understanding with them upfront maybe, ''Hey, there are going to be some games and maybe one or the other,' Prescott said about sharing the load. "It's tough, right? And that's the beauty of having two guys {Pickens and Lamb] is I don't know if it'll ever be tough for both of them, but in that instance, those are two unselfish guys and truly they want to win. And when you're not winning, and you're not getting the ball, trust me, I understand the frustration, so I'm never going to be mad at them for [being frustrated] about wanting to win and wanting the ball. 

"So it's communication. It's the relationship that we're building, and we'll continue to build, whether it's amongst me and GP or CeeDee."

So far, Pickens has said all the right things about being the optimal teammate, no matter who gets the ball. We can but see what happens when things go live in September.

"A different scheme could allow me to do more," Pickens remarked in June. "It's a good thing. College is probably the most recent time I've played with a lot of guys with speed — a lot of guys this fast. Team speed applies to the scheme, too. So if you've got a lot of fast guys, you're definitely gonna have a different scheme."

Pickens also pointed to the implementation of pre-snap chicanery as a force multiplier. 

"A lot of motions," Pickens said of Schottenheimer's promise that he'll use "multiples" of receivers to further bludgeon defenses beyond the pure talent on the field. "A lot of things that you get an indicator on what the defense is doing before you say 'Hike.' Some coaches don't do that."

A nice thought, but last season, the Steelers used pre-snap motion on 56% of their plays, which ranked 10th in the NFL. The Cowboys used it 49% of the time, which ranked 18th. Maybe Schottenheimer will use it more now that he's in charge, but the prior trends don't point to Pickens' encouragement. Nor does the fact that Pickens didn't do his best work with the Steelers when he was a target in motion (which was almost never) — his alpha trait is the ability to Godzilla opponents one-on-one. 

The theory that there are too many receivers to cover is a nice one, and on the surface, Pickens and Lamb present as formidable a one-two-punch as you'll see in today's NFL. More than anything, the question is, and remains, what the Cowboys' coaching staff will do with all those riches. Will they spend them wisely, or squander them as so many coaches in Jerry Jones' employ have over the years? 

No offense to Schottenheimer, but there's no way to answer Dallas' One Big Question for 2025 without posing the larger one as well — whether Jones actually hired a head coach and offensive shot-caller who's ahead of the game for once. 

(All advanced metrics courtesy of NFL Pro, Pro Football Focus, and Sports Info Solutions).