First off, let me say that I like Dak Prescott, I think he is a very good, not great, QB, and even the Dakaters have to notice the team with and without him which is exactly my point. The team needs someone better at that position unless you believe this team's management is capable of doing something they haven't done in decades, build a team around a QB.
They haven't done it with Prescott as well as his predecessor and even admitted that, failed to build around Romo. The fact that they lucked into both of these QB's should also be considered.
There are two questions regarding Trevor Lawrence, three if you consider why he doesn't become an English actor with that name. But the main two are is he better than what the Cowboys have now and what will it take to get him away from the two teams, JAX and NYJ, that have him in their sights?
Now, we must also consider the considerable team that Swinney has built around Lawrence, just as he did Watson. That must be taken into account when considering Fields as well.
But for the sake of argument and this thread, Lawrence is a better QB now than Prescott has developed into and he has nothing but upside. He is the first QB since P. Manning to deliver on being the most highly recruited QB in his class. If you don't agree with this, then this thread doesn't make sense to you but I have watched a lot of Lawrence play the position and consider him the real deal.
The second question is a tough one because if the Cowboys do not end up with the 1st pick, trading up for it will be very expensive in draft capital. If that can even be done. JAX ends up with that and they'd have a hard time passing on Lawrence since he's played in the neighborhood and if they're in that position, we'll see the same response as we saw from the CIN fans when the season became all about Burrow.
OK, you can let me have it now but I just don't think Prescott is good enough to lift this team beyond a mid level team. They ranked #1 in offense and we're 8-8 and what did they look like this season with Prescott at the helm? Is it a risk? Absolutely, but isn't giving Prescott a 4 or 5 X 35-40M a year even a bigger risk when you consider who the team builders are?
This is not about Dak Prescott, I think there are teams he could take to the Big Dance. This is about trying to overcome what's been holding this team back for two and half decades, management.
And if you want to consider something else, this HC had one of the best QB's in the history of the NFL and the most accurate one I have ever seen and he could only get one ring and ended up canned and that team doing better without him.
McC has this rep as a QB guru but who wouldn't with those QB's? The better the QB, the better the guru.
All comes down to one simple question. Do you want more of the same or do you want to take a chance? This is about change but what needs to be changed, management, will not so what's the next best thing?
I see the sense of taking a kid like this. Just the initial money leans toward Lawrence. Yet factor in this, both Dak and Lawrence are unknowns at this point. Dak's psyche and ability to play up to his level before the injury is a real unknown. Lawrence's possibility of being a bust has to be considered. And no matter how much anyone on this board has watched him, I need only suggest Wentz. There are no guarantees moving from one level to another. Further he could be nothing more than a QB cut from the same branch as Dak. That branch being in your mind that Dak cannot elevate the team to a championship.
But the dichotomy of your argument about Dak, Coach, is this.
The franchise has shown they cannot build a team around Dak. Dak has lead the number one offense, yet is 8-8.
Now let that sink in.
The franchise put an offense around Dak to be the best in the league. So your theory is only half right. This franchise has shown a propensity to fail at building a defense. But surely this franchise has built a team around Dak on the offensive side of the ball.
You mention the franchise has whiffed on this twice with the last two QB's. Which is true.
But then the 8-8 is solely Dak's responsibility, as if he needs to maybe step it up and play some corner or linebacker. This argument was never leveled at Romo. It was always the defense. Yet Dak puts up huge numbers and the defense cannot hold any lead ever.
But then it becomes crunch time and Dak tosses a pick and the board here goes nuts.
There are a list of critical games in the history of Romo when this EXACT scenario played out. Leads were going back and forth and when the championship drive at the end of the game arrived, Romo would throw a pick. And this board would be damned if they would admit it was a poor decision/throw by Romo, and it was always the defense that lost the game.
In both cases - Dak and Romo - the defenses were losing the lead and when both of these guys were forced to pull a win out of their butts at the most critical time, they did not.
My point is this. Maybe all these Great Unwashed here are wrong about Dak. Because the playing field surely is not level here. Romo could be inaccurate in games, as well as dropping dimes.
But having said that, the smart money would draft Lawrence, or Fields (who may be a younger Dak) and use the extra money they do not have to pay a veteran to build the OL and defense. Along with a top pick in each round of the draft.
But there is not a scenario where Dallas gives away the farm to move to the number one over-all and not repeat this same mistake they have done now with two QB's in a row. Because giving up premium draft picks limits what you can do for the Offensive Line and the defense as a whole.
