Dak is an average to below average NFL QB. If you want to say that is a 1st round pick criteria, then by all means. But you would be out on that limb by yourself. He does some things pretty well. He can take a hit. He runs good and when he uses good technique, the throws a nice ball. But he also does a lot of things bad, he feels pressure that isn't there. His pocket awareness is pathetic. He doesn't seem to read a Defense very well at all, except when we can force them into basic coverage because of our run game. This is also the reason he does so well in the 2 minute drives, the defense is not able to really hide much, they have to get lined up and play because the O is lined up and about to snap quickly. He takes a lot of sacks that are not on the OL. I would bet at least 30-40% of the sacks this year are on Dak, not the OL play. I don't think a team in the NFL would give you a 1st for Dak right now today.
Any team needing a QB would assume that their offensive scheme would be better than the Cowboys offensive scheme.
A team that expects to be top 5 or top 10 in the draft is unlikely to trade for any veteran QB, but a team that expects to be outside the top 10 in the draft would give a 1st for Dak.
There is only 1 really legit issue with Dak. He needs more space and time to physically throw the ball than a QB like Romo. Defenders in his face affect his throwing more than some other QBs.
He does NOT panic due to pressure as in "oh no I'm going to get hit". He does intentionally try to get rid of the ball earlier when there is consistent pressure in the game and this offense does not function well when the QB can't wait for receivers to get open.
His stats go down in games with greater then 40% pressure, but his stats on actual throws under pressure are not a problem. That fits with the above explanation.
His completion percentage and average per completion are only slightly below Tom Brady. Dak's only accuracy issues are when he has a defender in his face.
In 2017 the Cowboys receiving options were a disaster. Dez fell off the cliff to the point that TWill saw the #1 CB as often as Dez did. Without double coverage on Dez, defenses doubled Beasley, especially on 3rd downs. Witten's speed dropped dramatically from 2016 to 2017 and he was not fast in 2016.
The receiving options to start 2018 were not very good either. Swaim as the #1 TE. Hurns as the #1 WR. The 2nd outside WR was often Deonte Thompson with the rookie Gallup in the mix.
Then they got a legit #1 WR in Cooper and we've seen the results as a 3 game win streak.
Get a legit #1 TE next year and it will have a similar affect to adding Cooper.
