Dak Prescott: Draft anomaly, or a reason teams need to re-evaluate how they scout QB's

[darthseinfeld]

During draft season Prescott was a somewhat maligned prospect around here. Too raw mechanicaly and played in college offense that doesnt translate to the pro. Pro scouts seemed to be in some agreement with us as he slid all the way to comp 4th territory in the draft.

However even amoung his detractors, Dak was known to be a self starter, poised, intelligent, strong leader with all the physical abilities needed to be an NFL starter.

Going forward is Prescotts early success going to have teams look more towards the latter traits and be willing to overlook improveable deficiencies. Considering that the learning curve may not be as steep as once thought for someone who has a strong mental make up?

 

[Craig]

I dont think people are going to start ignoring substance abuse/arrest flags.

 

[erod]

I don't know how they can. The quarterback position has been so stilted in college, how do you evaluate them?

They don't huddle. They don't take snaps from under center. They generally only have one read. They don't call plays out loud. They play this read-option high school crap. They don't call audibles. They don't see anything other than man or basic zone.

Drafting quarterbacks is risky.

 

[DFWJC]

I think I'm on record saying that the odds were good that he'd be better than at least one of the three QBs taken in the first round....but admit, no way I would've drafted him in the 1st. No way 4th overall.
I think most of us thought he'd go in the 2nd or 3rd though. All the way to the end of the 4th was a bit of a shocker.
Part of that was more that I wasn't as high on the guys who went to early. Some were even saying we should grab Lynch at 4, believe it or not.

It's a real crapshoot drafting these spread offense QBs though.
Dak has a very unique advantage in having started 4 years against great competition. He should be more ready in some ways than others just based on that.
The intangibles are hard to measure though--and he has those in spades.

 

[BoysfanfromCanada]

I don't follow the NCAA very much other than when the NFL season is over and I see what the cowboys have a shot at, but are there college QBs that were leaders and showed poise like Dak but ended up busting under NFL pressure? I feel like poise would be one of the things I look for. If a guy has all the tools but looks shaky when it counts, then I would rather not touch. I guess Manziel always showed poise and confidence but couldn't back it up for the Browns...

 

[NorTex]

It amazes me how much stock is put into not taking a direct snap from under center. These are highly skilled athletes...I have no doubt they can learn something so basic.

 

[darthseinfeld]

I don't follow the NCAA very much other than when the NFL season is over and I see what the cowboys have a shot at, but are there college QBs that were leaders and showed poise like Dak but ended up busting under NFL pressure? I feel like poise would be one of the things I look for. If a guy has all the tools but looks shaky when it counts, then I would rather not touch. I guess Manziel always showed poise and confidence but couldn't back it up for the Browns...

A guy Prescotts profile kinda reminds me of is Bryce Petty in 2015. Very raw mechanics and no exposure to pro style elements but physically talented with exeptional football character. His career is still young and after preseason he seems to be the favorite to be there long term QB, but they did go out and draft Hackenberger. Wheather its for competition or they weren't sold on Petty I dont know

 

[plymkr]

You can't coach or teach leadership, mental toughness, poise under pressure, confidence, self esteem, maturity, intelligence. Either you have these things or you don't. A lot of the other stuff like, footwork, mechanics, accuracy and the physical side of being Quarterback can be somewhat taught or trained and even that has a ceiling of what you can do with someone.

Drafting a QB would be so nerve racking, especially at picks 1-5, because if you screw up you set your franchise back several years. Getting Dak in the 4th was a miracle for us and he has all the things you can't coach. He has them, all the other crap he can be taught.

Dak has "it", that uncoachable "it" and we got him, ha, screw you NFL. But my point is we're seeing what the difference is between Dak and let's say someone like Ryan Leaf or Jamarcus Russell or Matt Leinert. What would suck and it would make your job as a scout really hard would be the interview process because Matt Leinert can give you a sense that he has "it" , when is reality he folded under the pressure. Ryan Leaf couldn't handle an interview after his third game, or maybe his second. Dak handles everything on the field and off the field as a seasoned veteran.

Being a scout in the NFL, especially for QB's would be one of the most anxiety driven, nerve racking and pressure positions there is. I hope those guys and gals make their money cuz that would be a tough job.

 

[CATCH17]

When I projected Prescott I actually liked him but I had his upside as a high end #2 to low end #1 QB for a team and I Felt like he would be better off with a Andy Reid type of coach than running a timing offense.

Obviously he is better than I thought he would be.

The only QB I was interested in was Wentz and wanted to avoid drafting a guy just to draft a guy. I'm glad we drafted even though I wasn't too excited about it on draft day.

 

[Direwolf63]

One of the things I overlooked about him was that he came from the SEC and played against some of the best teams in the country......and was pretty successful. He somehow got his team to a #1 ranking, even if it was for only a week or so.

To go on the road against the Alabama's and LSU's of the world and have pretty good success is bound to build the mental toughness and maturity required to succeed at the next level.

It's easy to win games if you are the QB at Alabama or LSU. Very tough to play QB against them. Prescott cut his teeth playing against premium competition. And it's helping him today.

 

[Elusive6thRing]

I like what I"ve seen but I'm trying to keep things in perspective. Penalties or not the guy has still not thrown a single TD pass in 2 games. He seems to miss Dez by alot when trying to throw it to him in the end zone. Between the 20's he's been incredible but he's struggled in the red zone. I do think it's something that can improve but I'm not sure he'll ever throw 45 tds in a season. But also keeping things in perspective, he's been great for a 4th round pick that was thrown in the fire from day one.

Even if we have Russell Wilson 2.0, Wilson has had a great defense his whole NFL career and we do not have a great defense at least at the moment.

 

[Plankton]

I can't say that I evaluated Prescott well myself - I didn't think that he would play well early on in his career, and that he would need a ton of refinement and development. Some of the reasons why I had questions about him were:

• The offense he played in at Mississippi State - a one read, option based scheme is not one that translates well to the NFL. Think of the Urban Meyer QBs that have made it to the NFL - Alex Smith, Chris Leak, Tim Tebow. It took Smith until Jim Harbaugh arrived to look settled as a QB, and that was 6 years into his career. Leak and Tebow were busts. I didn't see Prescott as being that savvy in reading a defense, in large part because of the system that he played in.
• Deep accuracy - the Dan Mullen offense was predicated on a lot of short throws. Prescott did not excel at throws down the field while at Mississippi State.
• The DUI - I have a huge issue with driving under the influence of alcohol. It's a personal thing for me. Now, I realize that not a lot of teams have a huge issue with it, but the timing of his arrest concerned me. It made me wonder whether he was as mentally strong as he needed to be, even despite a ton of information to the contrary with how he dealt with his mother's sickness and ultimate death.

So far, it looks like I was completely wrong, and I couldn't be happier. Prescott has been far better than anyone could have expected.

Now, I posted this during the draft process as to why I think QB busts happen as frequently as they do:

http://cowboyszone.com/threads/top-end-qb-busts-causation.347548/#post-6644681

 

[oldschoolfan]

As I see the endzone fade passes from Dak to Dez, I think he needs to develop touch. While the passes are on target, they seem to have too much zip to allow Dez to time his jump. Tony had basketball skills where he could get a lob pass so Dez could time his leap. So it's a work in progress!

 

[Don Corleone]

It amazes me how much stock is put into not taking a direct snap from under center. These are highly skilled athletes...I have no doubt they can learn something so basic.

The snap itself isn't the point. It is about pre snap reads from that position along with footwork on 3, 5, and 7 step drops.

 

[DuDa]

It amazes me how much stock is put into not taking a direct snap from under center. These are highly skilled athletes...I have no doubt they can learn something so basic.

I know right. These old adages from the 70's need to be forgotten already.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Drafting a QB? Only one chamber is loaded. It's called Russian Roulette.

 

[Ken]

I said it before the draft, how this kid wasn't higher up the draft boards I'll never know. It didn't take me long after viewing his college tape to tell that he had what it took to be a good qb in this league.

This should be a huge wake-up call to the league they need to look at other things other than measurable or systems played in. Try bonne Booking is another guy I couldn't understand how he wasn't even drafted...probably the most impressive player I saw at qb in college last year.

Now he sticks on the Seahawks...go figure.

 

[boysfanindc]

Watching his college tape I am not sure how anyone could have come away thinking there was nothing there, there was definitely something there against very good SEC competition.

I thought we needed to grab him in the 3rd, but I think some of the off field stuff got more weight with the scouts then the on field tape.

I think they also missed his mental makeup and diligence to his craft, he got better every year.

 

[conner01]

When I projected Prescott I actually liked him but I had his upside as a high end #2 to low end #1 QB for a team and I Felt like he would be better off with a Andy Reid type of coach than running a timing offense.

Obviously he is better than I thought he would be.

The only QB I was interested in was Wentz and wanted to avoid drafting a guy just to draft a guy. I'm glad we drafted even though I wasn't too excited about it on draft day.

My feelings too
But I'm very happy to have been wrong lol

 

[jchap]

I evaluated him as number 1 over all. Please disregard this post after his first bad game. In that case I had him undrafted.