Why CeeDee Lamb Might Just Eclipse Barkley and Chase as Fantasy Football’s Ultimate 2025 MVP

Picking the right first-rounder in fantasy football can feel like threading a needle in a hurricane — but this year, there’s a name that’s standing out with overwhelming promise: CeeDee Lamb. The chatter between Yahoo Fantasy Forecast’s Matt Harmon and Dalton Del Don has been bouncing around, and here’s the scoop — Lamb’s sitting pretty as the player most primed to shatter expectations and claim the top spot in fantasy drafts. With the Cowboys’ receiving corps behind him shrouded in uncertainty, Lamb’s poised to soak up an unprecedented target load, blending elite skill and opportunity in a way rarely seen. This isn’t just hype; it’s a calculated forecast where age, talent, and offensive scheme collide perfectly. If you’re looking for that league-winning gem, CeeDee Lamb might just be the one to grab and never let go. LEARN MORE

When building a dominant fantasy football roster, nailing your first-round pick is essential — and, according to the recent debate between Matt Harmon and Dalton Del Don on the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast, nobody is better set up to explode as the top overall player than Dallas Cowboys receiver, CeeDee Lamb.Why? The Jefferson–Lamb debate is especially interesting this year. While both are awesome, Jefferson is breaking in a new quarterback (J.J. McCarthy). As Harmon puts it: “We’ve just never seen him play yet. It’s a new variable there.” Lamb, meanwhile, has his proven chemistry with Prescott, and the Cowboys offense isn’t changing.

Fantasy drafters have spent all offseason lining up Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase as their unquestioned No. 1 WR picks. Del Don? He’s “closer to moving [Lamb] to my WR1 than I am No. 3.”Advertisement

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• Lamb doesn’t just project to earn targets; he cashes them in. Harmon points out that, with no other true alpha options and quarterback Dak Prescott throwing his way, the Cowboys have every incentive to funnel the offense through Lamb: “This is the type of situation too where it’s like, who else are they going to throw to? … why would they throw to other guys when they have CeeDee Lamb there?”
• Even if someone like Amari Cooper is theoretically added, Lamb would still “comfortably clear like 160 targets.”

AdvertisementIt’s not just about opportunity. Over the last couple of years, Lamb has already proven he’s one of the top playmakers in the league. As Dalton notes, “CeeDee Lamb has the most PPR points per game among all wide receivers since 2003”, even while playing through quarterback injuries at times. Last year, he was the focal point, and this offseason only made the picture clearer.Del Don put it simply: Lamb had “135 catches, 1,750 yards and 12 TDs” in 2023. That’s already elite territory. But take a look at what’s happened in Dallas since then. The entire Cowboys receiver room behind Lamb is a collection of question marks: Jalen Tolbert, Jonathan Mingo, Jalen Brooks, KaVontae Turpin, Ryan Flournoy. It’s honestly hard to imagine a bigger gulf between a WR1 and the rest of a depth chart in the NFL right now.No WRs drafted this season