News: BTB: It would be irresponsible for the Cowboys to keep Kellen Moore on the 53-man roster

[NewsBot]

Not underselling the importance of the backup quarterback, but there’s a lot more than QB2 riding on Cooper Rush beating out Kellen Moore.

First of all I demand a standing ovation for not titling this “There’s Moore on the Line-han than QB2 with Cooper Rush and Kellen Moore” please. I fought off every instinct.

There’s a never-ending conversation happening within all Dallas Cowboys fans these days. It all centers around the man who gets to back up franchise quarterback Dak Prescott.

If you’ve bought in to the latest craze, you’re Team Rush. If you haven’t, you’re Team Kellen. This is a battle that is inching closer every day, as Kellen Moore is the veteran with backup experience, but Cooper Rush is the young gun lighting up preseason.

We’re now at a point though where we have what a majority believes is a clear-cut better quarterback on this team than Kellen Moore to handle the back up duties. To ignore that completely is not only questionable, but it’s irresponsible.

We’ve talked a lot this week about 53-man rosters. In fact on Tuesday we released eight different ones here at BTB. Even considering suspensions to three players, and maybe two more to follow (Carroll and Wilson), there are a lot of restrictions when building the 2017 Dallas Cowboys.

It’s practically consensus that the Cowboys are going to keep four running backs, Keith Smith, and four tight ends. They could carry up to eight offensive linemen, and they also have an option to go long at cornerback (especially given the time the rookies have missed). Even if you disagree with this list, all of these battles are indicative of just how valuable a single roster spot can be.

The Cowboys are reaching a point of no return with Cooper Rush. It’s extremely unlikely given his preseason play and national publicity that he’ll make it through waivers unclaimed by someone else... we all agree there.

This means that Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush are on the 53-man roster. Carrying Kellen Moore, even if he’s listed as QB2, would mean a third quarterback is tagging along for the ride that is this season. That seems like an impediment for growth elsewhere.

How many non-Moore players are on the roster bubble that any of us would like to see stick around? Noah Brown is knocking on the door. Duke Thomas is flirting heavily with a 53 spot. Marquez White has shown a lot to be intrigued by. You’re telling me you don’t want to keep Lewis Neal? There are a great many example and these players are all likely to contribute more significantly than Kellen Moore.

Let’s say the Cowboys leaned Kellen Moore’s direction over, for giggles, Noah Brown. Now fast-forward a year. Scott Linehan has accepted a head coach offer (he’s been knocking on the door himself), he’s poached Kellen away to be on his roster, and Brice Butler cashes in off of a stellar season with a big contract elsewhere.

Would it not be nice to have Noah Brown to slide in ever so cooly as his replacement? Or have Marquez White do the sliding in for Nolan Carroll? Again, there are many hypothetical examples that we’re all more in favor of.

Kellen Moore, not Cooper Rush, presents the road block to these potential realities. Moore could be the reason Noah Brown or Marquez White or whoever else goes on to have a stellar career with someone that is not the Dallas Cowboys.

Of course, Kellen could be the one saving us from a bad decision with any of these players, but from what we’ve seen of Kellen on the field it does objectively seem that Rush is better. Carrying three quarterbacks in general is a luxury for NFL teams, and it’s one you can’t afford if you’re going long a bunch of other places.

The pros column of Kellen Moore’s contributions certainly includes a great wealth of knowledge, but the cons grow as does the talent of non-quarterback players on the bubble. What’s worse is they could grow in a sense of having a lasting impact beyond the 2017 season. That’s an irresponsible way of handling this situation, especially when a solution is seemingly available.

Kellen Moore is eligible for the Cowboys practice squad. If the Cowboys want to keep him there to hang out, by all means. He’s not hindering roster growth there, and he still gets to contribute in the sense that we know he can to a high degree, in the classroom. Win-win.

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