Greg Cosell's QB Study: Is Dak Prescott ready to shine?

[RS12]

With one hit on Tony Romo, rookie Dak Prescott went from an intriguing preseason story to the Dallas Cowboys’ starting quarterback.

Romo will miss a significant portion of the regular season with a broken bone in his back, so we have to examine Prescott differently. He’s no longer a rookie who can develop behind Romo. He has to play right away.

The good news is Prescott has shown some advanced quarterbacking skills, albeit in preseason games.

One thing that has stood out in Prescott’s preseason film is that he’s comfortable in the pocket, especially against the blitz. Some quarterbacks never master that, so it’s impressive to see it from a rookie.

I want to look first at how Prescott reacted to the rush. The Los Angeles Rams came right at him, with two blitzes on his first series. Both times he saw the blitz and reacted with poise and composure. This throw was especially good, because he delivered a completion right where the blitz came from:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/greg-cosells-qb-study-is-dak-prescott-ready-to-shine-142828284.html

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Haven't read Cossell's article (good or bad), but just remember he's the same guy that claimed Rex Grossman was a franchise QB.

 

[gimmesix]

Good read on both the positives and negatives he's shown. The negatives are why I'd like to see him get some snaps Thursday.

 

[RS12]

Haven't read Cossell's article (good or bad), but just remember he's the same guy that claimed Rex Grossman was a franchise QB.

He is generally very good at film break down, and I do agree in particular with the part about him being comfortable in the pocket vs the blitz while many QBs never master it.

 

[Alexander]

Good read on both the positives and negatives he's shown. The negatives are why I'd like to see him get some snaps Thursday.

Well, he is not. So there you go.

 

[CouchCoach]

Who? No, not Dak, I know about him, the other guy.

 

[Doomsday101]

The one asset that Dak has that can be a life saver as a rookie is his athletic ability to run. Granted not something I want to see him do a lot but given the situation the team finds itself in there will be times were as things break down he will take off. Having said that it is critical that we get help in the run game with Zeke and Morris

 

[Stash]

Haven't read Cossell's article (good or bad), but just remember he's the same guy that claimed Rex Grossman was a franchise QB.

In Grossman's defense, he did have Wade Wilson as his quarterbacks coach.

 

[VACowboy]

Reading defenses? Throwing under duress? Hogwash! The Dallas staff was feeding Dak predefined throws which he made from behind the best OL in football! Blitzes? Pssssh! Those defenses were vanilla!

/sarc

 

[reddyuta]

some of the things Dak is ahead of Romo-He can beat the blitz unlike OLd Romo who was very good at it until he hurt his Back.now every team will bltiz us to stop him.teams will think twice about Blitzing Dak because he can stay in the pocket and he is not afraid of getting hit which is remarkable for a Rookie and he can take off for big yards too.Dak is already a better screen and short throw passer thrower than Romo who frankly is just terrible at it.

 

[Aven8]

Vanilla defenses huh??

 

[Gameover]

12-4

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

Reading defenses? Throwing under duress? Hogwash! The Dallas staff was feeding Dak predefined throws which he made from behind the best OL in football! Blitzes? Pssssh! Those defenses were vanilla!

/sarc

Don't forget they all came against 2nd and 3rd stringers like Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, Reshad Jones, Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner and Earl Thomas. None of those guys will even be in the league in two weeks and they're all happy to let rookies march down the field on them.

 

[UTmodisette]

The only real negative in preseason was the footwork issues, and they weren't as bad as he was evaluated as having coming out of college. Not a lot of rookie QBs have great NFL level footwork, so this is the least of my worries. If Dak is making good decisions, and throwing the ball well under pressure then we have what we need at QB. Neither of those qualities were found in Dallas' backup QBs last year.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

I'm pretty sure the cover-2 beater against the Rams was a Flat 7 combination route and not hi-low as Cossell claimed.

I could be wrong, but that's how I understand it.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

My favorite part of the "he did it against backups" meme is that it's more accurate in the other direction. He did it in the first two games without Zeke, who might be kind of important to the offense. In the third game he did it without Dez, who draws more eyes than anyone else on the offense.

That run pass threat has made the Seahawks running game go with a bunch of slugs on the OL. They're going to feast on those plays with those two guys on the field behind the best OL in football. The real question is how Dak is going to perform at the end of close games, which I'd wager will be pretty much every week.

 

[Zman5]

I hope the coaching staff teaches him the art of throwing the ball away. That's one thing Wilson as great at. Scramble around a bit and if nothing is there, throw it out of bounds. It should help limit possible INTS. With our defense, we can't afford to give the ball away.

 

[Risen Star]

I hope the coaching staff teaches him the art of throwing the ball away. That's one thing Wilson as great at. Scramble around a bit and if nothing is there, throw it out of bounds. It should help limit possible INTS. With our defense, we can't afford to give the ball away.

I hope the coaching staff just lets him play. Don't turn him into a checkdown artist. That rarely works. Especially when you don't have the personnel to win a defensive battle.

 

[Zman5]

I hope the coaching staff just lets him play. Don't turn him into a checkdown artist. That rarely works. Especially when you don't have the personnel to win a defensive battle.

I'm not saying to make him into a check down artist but I also don't want him to force trying to make a play that isn't there. That's what got Romo in trouble.

 

[Bay10]

I haven't read Greg Cosells film breakdown of Dak yet. I will say I've been a fan of Greg's qb analysis the past few years and believe they are generally very accurate.