The Dallas Cowboys quarterback position has never looked deeper than it does for the 2020 NFL season. Yet, the long term prospects at the position appear nearly as bleak as they had been during the years between Troy Aikman and Tony Romo. This of course is due to the fact that Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys failed to reach a long term agreement and therefore their young franchise QB will play on the franchise tag. Only two other times did a quarterback play on the franchise tag (Drew Brees and Kirk Cousins) and both times it resulted in departure from their respective teams. Futhermore, in both instances it proved to be worthwhile financially for those players. Since the Cowboys were not willing to pay Prescott at his current asking price, and history has shown that the price will only increase next year, it appears likely that marriage between Dak and the Cowboys will end unceremoniously either next year or the year after that. But enough of that already, this topic has been discussed at length. This year Dak Prescott is the starter and the Dallas Cowboys quarterback group finally has some depth.
Dak Prescott put up career numbers last season following a change at offensive coordinator from Scott Linehan to Kellen Moore. He threw for nearly 5000 yards, 30 TD’s and improved his accuracy all around but in particular on the deep ball. That is encouraging as those were areas that he struggled with and put in time to improve upon showing immediate results. Despite all of these improvements and his red hot start, the Dallas Cowboys failed to make the playoffs. Dak also tended to struggle against the better competition, something of a departure from his previous three years. Critics of Dak Prescott have always maintained that despite his winning record, his numbers were subpar. Last season the narrative changed and they pointed out that despite his numbers, he did not win or step up against tougher competition. For Dak Prescott to really silence most of his detractors, he needs to put up similar numbers AND lead the team to a deep playoff run. That is of course dependant on his supporting cast and coaching staff. I have plenty of faith in the quarterback to do his part, the question in my mind is whether or not Mike McCarthy was the right coaching hire.
Regarding Mike McCarthy, he has already made good on one promise. He has pointed out that depth is vital and that based on his own experience, it takes an entire roster to win a championship. As a result, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback position depth has been addressed this offseason. Instead of rolling with the likes of Cooper Rush, the Cowboys signed veteran free agent Andy Dalton on a one year deal. Whatever your opinion is of Dalton, you cannot deny that he is a legitimate starter and has proven that he can perform and win games with a good supporting cast around him. He played at an exceptionally high level in 2015 but his season ended prematurely which cost him a chance at his first career playoff victory. Despite not performing at nearly that same level these past few seasons on a bad Bengals team, I have a ton of confidence that Dalton can captain the ship if Dak Prescott were to miss any team due to injury or any other unforseen circumstances.
In addition to Prescott and Dalton, the Dallas Cowboys drafted a young quarterback named Ben DiNucci out of James Madison University in the 7th round. DiNucci is the only Dallas Cowboys quarterback that actually has a long term deal with the team and he is also a pet cat of Mike McCarthy. It is possible that DiNucci can make the roster as a QB3 but he is surely a developmental player. If at some point Ben DiNucci is the starting QB for the Dallas Cowboys this season, it is most likely that the team will have performed well below expectations for one reason or another.
In conclusion, concerning the Dallas Cowboys quarterback position and setting aside any anxiety about the long term situation, I feel as though it is certainly a strength relative to this roster. Love him or hate him, Dak Prescott is at the very least an above average starting quarterback who can lead the team. In my opinion, he is well above average and ascending. The biggest concern I have is how the contract situation and apparent lack of faith from the head office will impact him mentally. As for Andy Dalton, I feel as though an injury to Dak Prescott would not completely derail the season as it would have if Cooper Rush was still the backup and as it did in 2015 after Tony Romo was injured (pre-Dak).
*Photo by Joe Gloriosohttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode