Dak Prescott Can Make Dallas Great Again
There are a few guarantees in the sports world — LeBron James in the NBA Finals, Mike Trout in MVP contention, and Tony Romo getting hurt. When Cowboys fans learned Romo will be out the first six to ten weeks with a broken bone in his back the immediate reaction was something along the lines of ‘oh no here we go’. But once the feeling on inevitability is done Cowboys Nation should feel a lot more optimism. Dak Prescott is good and he is better than 2016 Tony Romo.
That may sound like a hot take until you see what Prescott has done in the infant stages of his NFL career. Through three preseason games he has totaled 454 yards with five touchdowns, zero interceptions, with a 78-percent completion percentage, and a QBR of 138.3. In his most recent game against the Seahawks first string defense he completed 73-percent of his passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.
For those that say it’s just the preseason let me remind you of Russell Wilson’s rise. Like Prescott, Wilson was taken in the middle rounds of his draft. Both put up great numbers in the preseason and in Wilson’s case that translated to a starting job. It took for Romo to go down for Prescott to get his shot, but let’s just say Jason Garrett might be feeling like Herman Boone when Rev Harris went down.
With Prescott now under center for the foreseeable future the Cowboys offense can even more dangerous than it would have under Romo. The offense’s biggest asset is its offensive line. You’ve heard football analysts gush over the o-line for the past two years and the praise is well deserved. What hurt Prescott the most at Mississippi State was his shaky line. That will not be the case with guys like Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, and La’el Collins protecting him.
Prescott will also have top draft pick Ezekiel Elliott flanking him in the backfield. Elliott also had a strong performance in Seattle and even received praise from the Kam Chancellor and is projected to be a standout performer. With Romo the assumed plan was a lot of in between the tackle runs, but with the quicker and thicker Prescott they can open up the playbook.
The read option has become a common play in the NFL with guys like Wilson and Cam Newton using it to confuse and destroy opposing defensive lines. In the Cowboys’ case the read option could be their greatest form of attack. We already know what Elliott can do with the option he just needs a partner to take the attention off him. Prescott is that guy. His frame is big enough to absorb hits and is feet are quick enough to beat a defender to the edge. This will prevent teams from loading the box and open up a slew of other plays.
One of the biggest knocks on Prescott was his work in the pocket or lack thereof. Thus far he has done his best debunk those perceived weaknesses. He’s been accurate on the intermediate routes. His main room for improvement is the deep ball, but with a healthy Dez Bryant those mistakes can be corrected in the meantime.
Dez has already shown more confidence in Prescott than he did in Brandon Weeden or Matt Cassel last season. Bryant noted the chemistry is already there:
“The chemistry with not only me and him, but the rest of the guys, it’s tremendous. We’re going to back him up and he’s going to do the same. We’re just going to keep each other lifted and go from there.”
With teams stacking the box and looking for the run the play action pass (and pass game in general) is going to be wide open.
The pieces are there for the Cowboys to have a successful season. If Prescott can keep the momentum on his side we are looking at Russell Wilson 2.0. And if he starts to crumble like Romo’s back the Cowboys can simply trim the playbook. Either way you look at it the Cowboys are not in the same spot they were last season.
