Andy Dalton will miss yet another game and the Dallas Cowboys quarterback position is up in the air for Sunday’s match-up against the undefeated Steelers. The Cowboys brought in Cooper Rush and Garrett Gilbert in addition to the rookie Ben DiNucci who made his first career start last week. None of the available options have a lot of experience or have shown very much promise in any NFL game. With these limited options, which Dallas Cowboys quarterback deserves to get the start on Sunday?
BEN DINUCCI
Whether he should be called “The Nooch”, “Gucci DiNucci” or “Nucci Mane” is something Cowboys fans cannot agree upon. What they can agree upon was that Ben DiNucci’s first career start was an absolute train wreck. If any of you Cowboys fans got excited over this 7th round pick, pet cat of Mike McCarthy who was praised for his mobility and confidence, you are not alone. Players such as Michael Gallup pumped him up in the media by claiming that “He was slinging it” all over the practice field. That appeared to be for his benefit alone because clearly the coaching staff did not seem to have a lot of faith in him. The introduction of the wildcat, double reverses, and various trick plays into the play calling was clearly designed to limit the impact of the rookie signal caller on the offense. DiNucci looked like he was in way over his head against the Eagles while showing poor pocket awareness and terrible throwing mechanics. Despite his horrible performance, his one career start makes him unbelievably the Dallas Cowboys quarterback with the most NFL game experience of the three options to start on Sunday.
COOPER RUSH
Cooper Rush enamoured Dallas Cowboys fans by winning the back-up job over current offensive coordinator Kellen Moore during the 2017 Pre-season. Since then he has steadily regressed and not looked unimpressive in subsequent preseason appearances or in practice. He did manage to beat out Mike White, the young quarterback they drafted a few years ago, for the backup job last season although neither QB really shone brightly. Despite Rush winning the back up job on multiple occasions, the Cowboys decided to move on from him when they signed Andy Dalton. Soon thereafter he was claimed by the New York Giants whose offensive coordinator is his former coach Jason Garrett. Still he was not able to keep his spot on that roster and is now back with the Cowboys. It is discouraging the Rush was never able to build upon his early potential and even more discouraging that he couldn’t cut it with the Giants. However, he is familiar with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s system and is at least an upgrade from DiNucci, although that doesn’t say much.
GARRETT GILBERT
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback room added another member in journeyman Garrett Gilbert. Gilbert has been around the block and has some preseason experience. He has also completed twice as many passes in an actual NFL game than Cooper Rush has (2 compared to 1). That’s not really a ringing endorsement for either quarterback. What’s concerning about Gilbert is that he was never able to keep his job on multiple rosters and no team felt confident enough in him to give him a real shot. He lost out on back up jobs to players like Connor Cook and Taylor Heinicke. What does offer Cowboys fans a glimmer of hope is that in the debunked AAF, Gilbert started multiple games and played exceptionally well although against lower quality competition for what that’s worth. Maybe Gilbert is truly a gamer and he will show up more on Sunday than he would on the practice field. That was true of Dak Prescott during his rookie season. One never knows until he steps unto the field when the lights are brightest. Such as, at home against the NFL’s only undefeated team on Sunday perhaps?
The matchup against the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers is not a game that anyone expects the Dallas Cowboys to compete in. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Of the three choices for the starting Dallas Cowboys quarterback there is for me but one choice. It is not Ben DiNucci, he had his shot and was so bad the coaches and front office are not willing to try that experiment anytime soon. It is not Cooper Rush either. Despite the fact that Rush makes the most sense because of his knowledge of the offense and familiarity with some of his teammates. There remains one big problem with Cooper Rush. He has been on this team for years and they have never shown any faith in him up to this point. Even when Dak Prescott hurt his throwing shoulder the week before the division deciding game against the Eagles last season, the team did not even think twice about putting Cooper Rush in and rolled with a wounded Prescott. They also jumped at the chance to sign Dalton as a backup this season knowing that backup QB was a major weakness on this team. No, the only clear choice is Garrett Gilbert. The shiny new toy, the guy that showed some promise albeit in the Alliance of American Football league, and the guy that is the biggest mystery for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The season is all but lost even in a terrible NFC East division. The Cowboys are jockeying for a better draft position more than they are competing in football games. Since there is no pressure to win and nothing to lose, the unknown commodity is the obvious choice and that is Garrett Gilbert as the Dallas Cowboys quarterback on Sunday.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso All-Pro Reels https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
