Lamb's Monday wasn't enough, and Michael Paden II says the next receiver has to be a starter

CeeDee Lamb played the last game of Week 7 the way you'd want your best receiver to play a game that was already gone. He gave the Fumblers 21.9 points Monday night in Philadelphia, the best score anyone in their lineup put up all week. It carried them to 76.38. Sports Ballers finished at 108.72.

So the Fumblers are 5-2. They lost the first-place game to Matt Carrico's team, and they are still on top of the Diablo, two games clear of everyone else in it. That's the standings. The story, I think, is what Lamb's night said about the room he plays in.

Here's what it said to me. When it came down to one Fumbler with a game left, it was always going to be him. That's a lot to ask of one receiver every week, and on Monday he wasn't part of the plan. He was the plan.

Michael Paden II has been saying a version of that himself, and on Monday he said more of it on the record.

Before kickoff he told me he'd be in his chair watching CeeDee, with no illusions. "I'm not going to tell you fifty-one points is coming back; it isn't. I'll watch anyway."

He also talked about the room. Romeo Doubs went to injured reserve, and Michael was careful about what that does and doesn't change. "Romeo going on IR doesn't change much for this week, he wasn't playing, but six receivers is thin and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking for another one."

I asked the obvious follow-up: looking for what, exactly? He answered late Monday night, and it was the clearest thing he has said to me about his receivers all season.

"I'm not looking for a body. I've got bodies," he said. "I want a guy who gets the ball every week, a starter, somebody who makes CeeDee's life easier instead of leaning on him. Size, slot, deep, I don't care what shape he comes in as long as the ball finds him."

Then he drew a line around it. "Who and how, you'll hear when it's done, not before."

I'm going to respect that line, because he means it and because I don't know anything past it. I don't have names, and I'm not going to guess at them. What I have is an owner telling me in plain words that he wants a starting receiver, not depth. That's news on its own. Owners at 5-2 don't usually volunteer that the roster isn't finished.

Which brings me to KC Concepcion.

I've been watching the rookie since the Oct. 20 walkthrough, when I saw him line up second behind Lamb, and I called it a look, not a role. On Sunday he scored 19.2 points from the bench, more than anyone in the Fumblers' starting lineup managed until Lamb took the field Monday.

Earlier Monday, Michael told me, "KC earned that 19," and that he'd "get his chances like everybody else." So I asked whether that 19 changed how he sees Concepcion's Sunday role, or only how he sees Concepcion. He brought up his bench again, which he clearly hasn't let go of, and then said this:

"That changes how I set my chart, not just how I see him. He earned a look. Where he lines up Sunday is my call, and I'll make it."

I want to be careful here, because this is exactly where a beat writer who likes a young player gets ahead of herself. "How I set my chart" is not "KC starts Sunday." It's an owner saying the chart is moving and that he's the one who will move it. I'll believe the role when I see the lineup. But it's more than "chances," and it's a long way from the week I watched Concepcion take reps behind Lamb with nobody saying a word about it.

Here's my take, and it's only mine. Those two answers belong together. Michael wants a starter who gets the ball every week, and he has a rookie who just showed him what happens when the ball finds him. Maybe the starter he wants comes from somewhere else. Maybe Concepcion gets the first crack at being that guy while the search goes on. Either way, a team that sent its best receiver out alone on Monday night to chase more than 50 points knows the room behind him has to look different by Sunday.

Sunday is Likely 2 Punt, on the road, and Michael has already framed it in his own terms. "My bench outscored my lineup. That doesn't happen again," he said. "I set the right guys and we go win at my son's place."

Lamb did his part Monday, all of it, by himself. His owner says he wants Lamb to have help, and not just a body. By Sunday we'll know whether that help is a new name, a rookie who already earned a look, or both.