What are your expectations of Dak's ceiling with us?

There's more to being a good NFL QB than a strong arm otherwise Jeff George and Jay Cutler would both have Super Bowl wins.

Following last Sunday’s victory in Philadelphia, we discussed that Dak Prescott has recorded eight more game-winning drives than Carson Wentz since the two NFC East signal-callers entered the league in 2016. Prescott had a 11-9 record in game-winning drive opportunities after leading his Cowboys squad to a crucial divisional victory on the road over the Eagles.

That win set up yet another ‘must-win’ game for the Cowboys, as Dallas continued its two-game road trip with a battle against Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and the Atlanta Falcons. We all know what occurred in last season’s trip in Atlanta, so you can assume this team had a chip on its shoulder to make up for that debacle.

The Cowboys fell behind the Falcons 9-6, but Dallas finally found some of its rhythm in the second half, as Dak Prescott made timely plays to keep drives alive and Ezekiel Elliott turned in his second consecutive monster performance — 201 all-purpose yards and a touchdown on 30 total touches.

A Prescott run, followed by Zeke’s score, gave the Cowboys a 19-12 lead in the final quarter, but the Falcons weren’t going to go away easily. Ryan hit Julio on a 34-yard strike to tie up the game with under two minutes remaining.

The game was now in Dak’s hands — again.

Prescott and the Cowboys were successful in driving down the field to set-up the winning Brett Maher field goal that has the Cowboys soaring, and the Falcons looking at a tough path to get back in the race. The drive was Prescott’s second-consecutive and 12th game-winning drive of his young career. As our own OCC points out, that was the most over the last three seasons when the clock hit zero:

With another game-winning drive today against Atlanta, nobody in the NFL has more game-winning drives over the last three seasons than Dak Prescott.

Stat of the day: With the win over Philly, Dak Prescott recorded his 11th game-winning drive since 2016, the second-most by any QB over that span.



https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...es-over-the-last-three-seasons-dallas-cowboys

Rayman70 said:

I WAS so wrong about Goff being a bust. I couldn't have been more wrong. Jeff Fisher must have truly sucked ***. Your right, Goff is an elite passer. But don't discount Dak and his ability to rally the troops.The kid is a hardcore leader.

Click to expand...

I rated Goff #1 based on film before the draft. I really thought I missed during his rookie year where it appeared he was not tough and everyone was questioning his leadership, which is not something I could have known.

He righted the ship and is fantastic under a new coach and plenty of weapons though.

QT said:

I think he has those special glasses that makes you think the QB is better than what he is.

Click to expand...

I have the glasses that don't harp on certain bad plays and let them become a running theme for a qb.

That is what happens every week. There will be a play that he misses early in the game and people bring it up throughout the whole game and throughout the week. no other qb gets that scrutiny.

Dak requires a few things for him to play at his best.

He needs to have his feet set. This may be the most important aspect. Dak needs to step through the pass to get the velocity and accuracy he has shown at times. If you watched the KC/Rams game you would have seen Mahomes throw a pass with his feet not set and it was intercepted by a defensive lineman. (Not making a comparison, just an antidote.)

Dak has to set his feet. I'm not certain he can learn what Romo knew about throwing off different platforms. Romo worked on that in college.

This leads to the second aspect.

Dak needs a clean pocket. In an article I read recently by Bob Sturm about last year's Atlanta game, it appeared to Bob that Dak got rattled to the point he didn't recover for several games. He heard footsteps and was reacting to that. Even as big as he is, he still gets slammed when those defenders get to him. So as he feels the pressure coming, he has lost some of his cool and takes sacks that don't need to be taken, perhaps.

Which leads to the aspect that Dak holds the ball too long.

My first thought is he is protecting the ball from interceptions. That might be a good thing. However, throwing the ball away and reloading on the next down is preferable, and yet that doesn't happen often enough.

But the second aspect to this is he doesn't trust what he sees. Which plays into anticipation of where the receiver will be. Now it's debatable that he doesn't trust anyone on this squad but Cooper, Beasley and Gallup. All others are wide open when he pulls the trigger or he holds it. And the spares Jerry Jones put on the field don't get open but rarely. This argument might conclude that he has gained some trust because he threw into double coverage and an interception the first game Cooper was here. Or that Cooper is now demanding more attention, which offers Beasley, Gallup and the TE's more opportunities.

Now as a side note, Cooper is light years ahead of the other receivers outside of Beasley. Cooper gets open. When he has close coverage, he defends the ball. But he also makes tough catches. All things considered, I think he was well worth the price. Especially when you consider they would have used a first on a rookie WR next year. Dallas got one already broken in.

How do you teach Dak to trust the receiver will be where he should on time?

Well one thing is you get a coach that spends time teaching Dak. I do not mean a former QB on this team that couldn't throw a 17-yard square out without getting it picked off in a Pop Warner game because he doesn't have any arm strength. Moore is just another in a long line of failures when it comes to finding a quality back-up. The last serious back-up this team had was Steve Beuerline back in 1991. I discount the Romo injury season since the team made a serious error and didn't reinsert Romo back in as a starter when he healed. (Note:This is hindsight. I didn't feel that way at the time. I relive woulda, shoulda, coulda all the time in regard to the Green Bay game if Tony had started when he healed up and had a few games under his belt. Spilled milk.)

I mean a head coach that understands what needs to be done to maximize Dak's skill set. And he does have a skill set. When you see him drop a dime twenty five yards down the field on a sideline route, that is not a fluke. But that requires so much of what is above in this text that he doesn't experience most of the time with this team.

Jared Goff was a pretty good college player. He was not so much his rookie year in the pros. But look at him now. That TD pass in the 4th against KC to his tight end was like a hand-off. And Dak has thrown a ball that very same way.

This franchise needs new blood at the head coach position. Someone who can work with Dak and get him to max out his potential. But that coach also must see the other components that are required for Dak to become what he can.

He is competitive. He, for the most part, doesn't get rattled. His composure is better than a lot of QB's in this league, if you can limit the times he gets pancaked by a defensive lineman in a game.

Dak has three of the required components he needs in Cooper, Beasley, and Gallup - and Zeke. He needs a stud TE that can roam the hash marks and be the outlet for him when the others are jammed up. That addition and some time in practice would return Dak to what we saw in 2016. If the line can buy time. FredBeard's return, William's off-season strength and conditioning, and Su'a-Filo and Looney rotating in will again solidify this line. Perhaps William's can find a place at tackle as a back up to Tyron Smith, but that will take some serious off-season work.

What is his ceiling? Throughout the years teams have won with less stellar QB's and taken home the Lombardi. If you control those awkward throws because of an unsettled pocket - and if you truly think Dak doesn't have a gun, then you need to go watch a bunch of Moore videos. Then this guy could lead this team to a Super Bowl or multiple.

He is not Romo. But there are aspects where that is a plus and not a minus. Romo was a riverboat gambler with the football at times. And that usually came back to bite him on the butt at the end of games. Not always. Not even frequently. No knock on Romo.

I get frustrated with Dak and want him banished to the corn field at times. But i also watch him tee it up against defenses that have been beating him most of the day and drive the ball for winning points.

I think this is over looked by many on this site and fans in general.

I'm just saying for the Dak lovers.. If Jerry gives anything around $60-80M to extend Dak's contract... This is going to set the franchise back another 10 years. This guy is a bus driver at best. He does not have the skill set that Goff or Mahomes has.

To the guy comparing Goff's TD pass to Dak's. Did you see the Rams/Minnesota game earlier this year? Goff is a WAY better passer than Dak will ever be.

Some of the recent posts about Dak:

Ours is a joke!
Goff is 10X better.
He has little arm talent.

If you don't like Dak's quarterbacking skills, fine, you're entitled to your opinion.

But posts like the above, with gross exaggeration, are meaningless.

A joke? Then how did a "joke" win 27 NFL games? And don't give me the "he had Zeke" bull, no team wins 27 games with only a running back, no matter how good he is.

Goff "10X" better? Then he should have won every game he played, had no ints and 200 tds, he must have been perfect!

NO quarterback is drafted who has "little arm talent". ANY drafted quarterback has at least average arm talent, you don't get there otherwise. There were 129 FBS schools in 2016, each had a starting quarterback. Only 15 were selected in the draft. Is someone going to say there were only 14 quarterbacks that had "sufficient" arm strength, so Dak was drafted even though he didn't have it?

Yeah right.

Let's try to keep comments at least partly in the real world...

LACowboysFan1 said:

Some of the recent posts about Dak:

Ours is a joke!
Goff is 10X better.
He has little arm talent.

If you don't like Dak's quarterbacking skills, fine, you're entitled to your opinion.

But posts like the above, with gross exaggeration, are meaningless.

A joke? Then how did a "joke" win 27 NFL games? And don't give me the "he had Zeke" bull, no team wins 27 games with only a running back, no matter how good he is.

Goff "10X" better? Then he should have won every game he played, had no ints and 200 tds, he must have been perfect!

NO quarterback is drafted who has "little arm talent". ANY drafted quarterback has at least average arm talent, you don't get there otherwise. There were 129 FBS schools in 2016, each had a starting quarterback. Only 15 were selected in the draft. Is someone going to say there were only 14 quarterbacks that had "sufficient" arm strength, so Dak was drafted even though he didn't have it?

Yeah right.

Let's try to keep comments at least partly in the real world...

Click to expand...

Explain his decline then... I was never a fan from the beginning. A guy that couldn't beat Kellen Moore and Jameil Showers in his first training camp.

Rayman70 said:

I WAS so wrong about Goff being a bust. I couldn't have been more wrong. Jeff Fisher must have truly sucked ***. Your right, Goff is an elite passer. But don't discount Dak and his ability to rally the troops.The kid is a hardcore leader.

Click to expand...

I guess now is a good time to reiterate that I wanted to move up and nab Goff when we took Zeke. I wanted Goff badly...

But I do have an appreciation for what Dak brings to the table.

Ken said:

Just what I see.

I see different stuff for Wince than most too...still stand by it.

Click to expand...

There. FIFY.

Right now, Dak has to SEE his guys open. That doesn't work in the NFL. Watching Mahomes and Goff from behind the QB, they throw into what appears at the time of release to be, a wad of guys, with the confidence that his guy will be on the spot he throwing to. Dak doesn't do that. And it hurts us.

"In college, everybody's open - in the NFL, nobody's open." Chris Collnsworth

Bleu Star said:

What is the pulse of Cowboys faithful regarding Dak?

Click to expand...

3rd season and has better numbers than Tom Brady after 41 starts. Will he end up being Brady? The likelihood is no. But we can expect him to get better and I personally think that Daks leadership will get us to a Superbowl if he has the coaching.

QT said:

Explain his decline then... I was never a fan from the beginning. A guy that couldn't beat Kellen Moore and Jameil Showers in his first training camp.

Click to expand...

Declined? I would submit that at the worst, he's no better than his rookie year, but that's not a decline. He doesn't have the top, or one of the top o-lines as he did in 2016.

Is he one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL?

No, that's obvious. He has shortcomings, more than many of the other starting quarterbacks. But look at guys drafted ahead of him in 2016:

Cook
Jones
Hackenberg
Kessler

None of those guys have even been a starter.

As far as not beating Moore and Showers in his first camp, in the first place he did beat Showers. Per wikipedia: After Moore's injury, he competed with rookie quarterback Dak Prescott for the backup job behind starter Romo. Several reports from August, indicated that Showers outperformed Prescott, showing greater accuracy and a quicker release in training camp.[13] However, the Cowboys coaching staff made the decision to start Prescott in the team's preseason opener at the Los Angeles Rams. If you're made the starter over someone, you beat him out.

As far as Moore goes, Moore signed with the Lions in 2012, and had been with the Cowboys all of 2015, starting 2 games. Of course he would have trouble beating out Moore, a raw rookie vs. a 4 year vet, albeit with limited game time. If you're the coach, are you going to start a rookie over somebody with 4 years in NFL camps and games? Hardly.

He's not a great quarterback, few would say he is. But my problem is those who make him out to be basically worthless, or that others are as ahead of him as an NFL quarterback as Dak is over some high school kid.

I think at least most of us on this site don't need hyperbole and gross exaggeration comments to understand that the poster doesn't think Dak's all that great...

Ken said:

I just watched it and he threw two out comebacks to Cooper from the opposite hash. He has plenty of arm strength.

And the one he sailed...he didn't get to step into. Arm is fine.

Click to expand...

Again...comebacks. And what do you mean "it?" It what? You chose 3 plays and that's "it"?

When was that hail mary again?

ItzKelz said:

3rd season and has better numbers than Tom Brady after 41 starts. Will he end up being Brady? The likelihood is no. But we can expect him to get better and I personally think that Daks leadership will get us to a Superbowl if he has the coaching.

Click to expand...

Not sure what numbers you are looking at while comparing Brady and Dak... but Brady's numbers have increased every year since his rookie year. In Brady's third year, he passed for 3,700 yards 28TDs. Brady's third year, he made the Pro Bowl.

Dak's numbers have gone the opposite way since year 1.

LACowboysFan1 said:

Declined? I would submit that at the worst, he's no better than his rookie year, but that's not a decline. He doesn't have the top, or one of the top o-lines as he did in 2016.

Is he one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL?

No, that's obvious. He has shortcomings, more than many of the other starting quarterbacks. But look at guys drafted ahead of him in 2016:

Cook
Jones
Hackenberg
Kessler

None of those guys have even been a starter.

As far as not beating Moore and Showers in his first camp, in the first place he did beat Showers. Per wikipedia: After Moore's injury, he competed with rookie quarterback Dak Prescott for the backup job behind starter Romo. Several reports from August, indicated that Showers outperformed Prescott, showing greater accuracy and a quicker release in training camp.[13] However, the Cowboys coaching staff made the decision to start Prescott in the team's preseason opener at the Los Angeles Rams. If you're made the starter over someone, you beat him out.

As far as Moore goes, Moore signed with the Lions in 2012, and had been with the Cowboys all of 2015, starting 2 games. Of course he would have trouble beating out Moore, a raw rookie vs. a 4 year vet, albeit with limited game time. If you're the coach, are you going to start a rookie over somebody with 4 years in NFL camps and games? Hardly.

He's not a great quarterback, few would say he is. But my problem is those who make him out to be basically worthless, or that others are as ahead of him as an NFL quarterback as Dak is over some high school kid.

I think at least most of us on this site don't need hyperbole and gross exaggeration comments to understand that the poster doesn't think Dak's all that great...

Click to expand...

You had to Wiki that? I followed Dak's first training camp. I remember Babe or some other reporter saying Jameil was playing better than Dak at times. Many people reported how inconsistent he was in training camp.

Also, are you saying Dak has to have a TOP OLINE to play well?

morat1959 said:

Your eye test and mine are totally different. I must need stronger glasses.

Click to expand...

Most of the rest of us must need them as well.

QT said:

Not sure what numbers you are looking at while comparing Brady and Dak... but Brady's numbers have increased every year since his rookie year. In Brady's third year, he passed for 3,700 yards 28TDs. Brady's third year, he made the Pro Bowl.

Dak's numbers have gone the opposite way since year 1.

Click to expand...

QB rating, Int's, TD's, completion percentage....ect.

Ken said:

I have the glasses that don't harp on certain bad plays and let them become a running theme for a qb.

That is what happens every week. There will be a play that he misses early in the game and people bring it up throughout the whole game and throughout the week. no other qb gets that scrutiny.

Click to expand...

That's not true. It is not the mistakes that get harped on in single games. It is the re-curring themes week in and week out. It is the poor pocket presence and refusal to throw downfield and lack of anticipation over and over and over again. Individual plays just get pointed out as the examples of his faults because we have them every game!

I'm not just a fan that just watched Romo.

I've watched EVERY Cowboys QB since Peuller/Hoogeboom. I remember Tom Landry would switch those 2 off in games. I know when a QB has it. Aikman had it. Beurerlein had something. I suffered through the QB's after Aikman. Then Romo came along. Romo had it. The guy does have all of the Cowboys passing records.

Sorry, I don't see why you guys have hope for Dak.... And i'm pretty sure I have watch more Cowboys games then most of the people on this forum.

Old schoolers Die Hard fans remembers the play by play breakdown on Tex Schramm's weekly TV show (where you can hear the video reel) This is how we got information before the Internet. Newspapers, New's sports shows, and watching Tex and the Tom Landry show. So I didn't just watch the games... I followed the Cowboys...