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The NFC-leading Cowboys wouldn't be close to 7-1 without Prescott and Elliott. Prescott was the eighth quarterback selected in the 2016 draft, but he's the fourth-highest-rated passer in the NFL. Elliott, who was drafted fourth overall, leads the league in rushing by an 84-yard margin.
At midseason, they undoubtedly rank 1-2 in the Offensive Rookie of the Year race.
But in order to get an even better feel for how much of an impact Prescott and Elliott have made, let's take a look back in time.
Pro Football Reference has a nifty metric called approximate value (AV), which is "an attempt to put a single number on the seasonal value of a player at any position from any year." With that numerical value on any player's season, we can comb through past years in order to find seasons in which multiple rookies on the same team had strong AV totals.
Dating back to 1960, we found 14 teams that possessed two rookies with approximate values in the double digits. Here's a breakdown.
Top duos in modern and semi-modern NFL history, sorted by combined approximate value
2012 Washington Commanders: Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris
Combined AV: 31
The first duo on the list gives us our best comparison to Prescott and Elliott. A quarterback and a running back. One drafted in the top five, one drafted several rounds later.
In 2012, Griffin put together arguably the best rookie season for a quarterback in NFL history. His 102.4 passer rating remains the highest in NFL history among rookie signal-callers with at least 10 starts, and only Cam Newton had a higher rookie quarterback AV than his total of 18. Throw in a rookie quarterback record 815 rushing yards, and he was the runaway Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Meanwhile, Morris rushed for 1,613 yards, which remains the third-highest rookie total in NFL history. He somehow fell short of the Pro Bowl, but he still had an AV of 13.
By that measure, Griffin and Morris were two of the 49 most valuable players in the NFL.
1965 Chicago Bears: Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus
Combined AV: 31
Sayers had a truly epic rookie season, with 1,374 scrimmage yards, 20 touchdowns on offense and two touchdowns as a return man. He was a first-team All-Pro, his AV ranked second to only Jim Brown and he won the United Press International Offensive Rookie of the Year award (this was before the Associated Press started handing out awards for offensive and defensive players in 1967).
With five interceptions and seven fumble recoveries, Butkus was also a first-team All-Pro with an AV of 13.
By that measure, Sayers and Butkus were two of the 32 most valuable players in the NFL.
1964 Washington Commanders: Charley Taylor and Paul Krause
Combined AV: 28
Taylor became a great receiver, but he actually won the UPI Rookie of the Year award as a running back. He ranked third in the league with 1,569 yards from scrimmage, and he had an approximate value of 15.
Krause joined Taylor in the Pro Bowl thanks to a league-leading 12 interceptions. He was also a first-team All-Pro with an approximate value of 13.
By that measure, Taylor and Krause were two of the 33 most valuable players in the NFL.
2012 Seattle Seahawks: Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner
Combined AV: 26
Neither Wilson nor Wagner won a Rookie of the Year award, and Wagner didn't make the Pro Bowl. But the third-round quarterback was the league's fourth-highest-rated passer, earning an AV of 16. And Wagner and Paul Posluszny were the only players in the league with at least three interceptions, two sacks and 85 tackles.
They both played massive roles on a team that was a Super Bowl contender.
Other notable duos
1981 New York Giants: Lawrence Taylor and Bill Neill
Combined AV: 27
Taylor is the only rookie to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, so his AV of 17 carries Neill, a fifth-round nose tackle who started all 16 games but failed to make the Pro Bowl and had an AV of just 10. Few viewed Taylor and Neill as a duo, because one made a substantially larger impact than the other.
1973 Cincinnati Bengals: Boobie Clark and Isaac Curtis
Combined AV: 26
Offensive weapons Curtis and Clark had a combined 2,167 yards from scrimmage as part of a 10-4 Bengals team. Clark ranked seventh in the league with 1,335 yards from scrimmage alone and had an AV of 14, but the back failed to make the Pro Bowl. The more heavily hyped Curtis ranked fifth in the NFL in receiving yards, earning a rookie Pro Bowl nod. But his AV was only 12.
2002 Denver Broncos: Clinton Portis and Ben Hamilton
Combined AV: 25
Portis ranked fifth in the NFL with 1,508 rushing yards and posted an AV of 15, but he failed to make the Pro Bowl. Same with Hamilton, who started 16 games in the interior offensive line for a winning team but settled for an AV of 10.
1967 Detroit Lions: Lem Barney and Mel Farr
Combined AV: 23
In '67, the Lions had the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year (Farr) and Defensive Rookie of the Year (Barney). Farr ranked fifth in the league in rushing and earned a Pro Bowl nod with an AV of 10. Barney was also a Pro Bowler with a league-high 10 interceptions and three defensive touchdowns, earning an AV of 13.
1980 Atlanta Falcons: Buddy Curry and Al Richardson
Combined AV: 22
The linebackers split the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in '80, with Richardson picking off seven passes and earning an AV of 12 and Curry recording three interceptions and scoring a defensive touchdown. They played critical roles as the Falcons won the NFC West with a 12-4 record. But neither made the Pro Bowl.
2006 New Orleans Saints: Reggie Bush and Marques Colston
Combined AV: 22
Bush had 1,307 yards from scrimmage and played a key role as a returner, which was enough for an AV of 12 but didn't get him a Pro Bowl nod. Colston had a remarkable 1,038 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie seventh-round pick, but he didn't make the Pro Bowl either and he "settled" for an AV of 10.
2011 Cincinnati Bengals: Andy Dalton and A.J. Green
Combined AV: 21
Both Dalton and Green made the Pro Bowl as rookies in '11, with the second-round quarterback posting an 80.4 passer rating and the first-round wide receiver going over 1,000 yards with seven touchdowns. Still, neither had especially high AV numbers for a 9-7 Bengals team.
1971 New England Patriots: Jim Plunkett and Randy Vataha
Combined AV: 20
They're listed because they both had double-digit AVs, but both barely qualified at 10. Neither won a Rookie of the Year award, and neither made the Pro Bowl. Plunkett was the NFL's 11th-highest-rated passer and Vataha ranked second in the league with nine receiving touchdowns, but neither could do much to save a Patriots team that had a losing record.
1983 San Francisco 49ers: Roger Craig and Bubba Paris
Combined AV: 20
Craig had a solid 1,152 yards from scrimmage, while Paris started all 16 games at left tackle for a 10-6 49ers team. Neither made the Pro Bowl, though, and both just barely qualified with AVs of 10.
2013 San Diego Chargers: Keenan Allen and D.J. Fluker
Combined AV: 20
Two non-Pro Bowlers with AVs of 10. Allen was great with 1,046 yards and eight touchdowns, while Fluker was solid in 15 starts at left and right tackle, but they're only listed because they both (barely) had double-digit AV totals.
Only one duo really compares
I haven't been totally holding you in suspense regarding the AV totals belonging to Prescott and Elliott at midseason. That's because they don't exist. Pro Football Reference uses a complex formula in order to calculate AV totals, which includes adjustments for All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods.
That said, I asked PFR if they could make an educated guess as to the pace both Prescott and Elliott are on in terms of AV. Their "rough and unofficial" estimation? Elliott at 12 or 13, and Prescott at 17.
That seemingly conservative pace would put Prescott and Elliott ahead of Taylor and Krause and just back of Sayers and Butkus and Griffin and Morris.
But those first two duos didn't even team up together on the same side of the ball, and both predated the Super Bowl era. So if we're looking at offensive or defensive rookie duos in modern NFL history, the ultimate comparison should be between Prescott/Elliott and Griffin/Morris.
Here, outside of their AV totals and projections, is what the numbers say:
Working to the Dallas duo's advantage:
- They're winning at a much higher clip than Griffin and Morris were.
- They've turned the ball over less frequently and have higher mainstream rate-based numbers (touchdowns and yards per game, yards per rush, passer rating, QBR).
Working to the Washington duo's advantage:
- Griffin was a much more effective rusher than Prescott.
- Griffin has superior advanced numbers (passing deep, passing under pressure, Pro Football Focus grade).
- It's clear based on pressure numbers and offensive line grades that Griffin and Morris had less support than Prescott and Elliott do.
Altogether, Griffin has a small edge over Prescott and Elliott has a small edge over Morris, which makes this close.
Of course, that's assuming Prescott and Elliott remain on track. Either could hit a rookie wall, but both have actually picked up steam as the season has worn on, which could indicate they'll blow past Griffin and Morris during the second half of the 2016 season.
Either way, we're likely witnessing history.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.
Follow @Brad_Gagnon
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