The third-round talk surrounding Dak Prescott shows no signs of abating. P
rescott’s skill-set, however, makes him a more realistic Day 3 target. He needs to improve his location, in particular, struggling to beat tight coverage at every level of the defense. Prescott can hit open receivers, but f
ails to show the kind of precision to complete tough throws into coverage. The g
ame-manager label might suit Prescott, because he fails to stand out in any area. While he is a solid enough signal-caller, he doesn’t flash outstanding potential. Although the numbers appear promising, Prescott is far from the most effective quarterback under pressure.
He recorded a -7.0 grade when disrupted in the pocket in 2015 (0.0 is considered average), despite throwing five touchdowns to just one pick.
It may have seemed as if Prescott improved at protecting the ball in his senior season—he had just five picks in his final year at Mississippi State—
but he benefitted from 11 drops from defenders to maintain respectable numbers. Along with the other quarterbacks in this piece, Prescott’s decision-making isn’t always consistent. His tapes against Ole Miss and Alabama are ugly. When games started to drift away from Prescott, he was rarely capable of changing the momentum back in his teams’ favor.
After an underwhelming Senior Bowl, Prescott should only be considered towards the end of the draft.