There’s a word I’ve been using a lot this offseason pertaining to the 2016 Dallas Cowboys – arrogant.
The thing about arrogance is, if it’s justified, it’s not necessarily stupid. It’s just pompous. The Dallas Cowboys have — through one preseason game — somewhat justified some of their offseason arrogance.
In 2015, Tony Romo had more collarbone breaks than the Cowboys did wins without him. Putting things nicely… that’s pathetic. Dallas paraded the clumsiest, least coordinated, and most inaccurate people that have ever thrown a pigskin through the quarterback position last year, and do you know what lesson they learned from that?
Do it again.
Lesson Not Learned, Oh Well!
The Cowboys saw Kellen Moore’s inability to win a game as the Cowboys QB and said, “Well golly, I bet he could do it in 2016… even though he’s never done it before and nothing suggests he can… This makes sense… America’s Team!” and we were all left stunned.
Imagine that you and I went out for a boat ride (I’ll bring some fun music don’t worry… hope you like the Cast of Glee) and the boat sank. That would really suck. It’d be a horrible experience. Now imagine one year later I asked you to come out again… and I had done nothing to fix the boat.
That’d be pretty stupid, right?
The Cowboys boarded the “S.S. Minnow Moore” when they headed out to Training Camp, intent on scribbling his name underneath Tony Romo’s on their depth chart. When Kellen suffered an injury that will likely cost him his season, Dallas turned to their 4th Round Draft Pick – Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott.
Thanks to Dak’s great play (let’s remember it is a preseason game, so we don’t get carried away) in Sunday’s preseason-opening loss, it looks like the Cowboys might have potentially struck gold. Weird.
Yes, assuming Dak’s career will display some of what we saw this past Sunday, the Cowboys might have found Tony Romo’s heir… but they did it totally, completely, and absolutely indisputably on accident.
The Road To Dak Prescott
Obviously the lone survivor from 2015’s quarterback fiasco was Kellen Moore. He was the first option for the Dallas Cowboys to back up Tony Romo in 2016. Seriously. People sat down in a room, suggested this, and then agreed that it was a good idea. This really happened.
It should be noted that the Cowboys did learn a teeny bit from 2015. They potentially wanted Jared Goff or Carson Wentz with the 4th Overall Pick, but thanks to some pre-Draft trades, those options were taken away from them.
Never fear! Jerry Jones is here! The Owner, President, and General Manager of the Dallas Cowboys then set his sights on the consensus third-ranked quarterback in the available crop – Paxton Lynch.
After being unable to swing a trade to land a Star on Lynch’s helmet, Jones & Co. decided to look elsewhere for a potential quarterback puppy; the 4th Round.
It was well-known the Cowboys were about to take Michigan State’s Connor Cook with the 101st pick, until the Oakland Raiders bailed them out. Ultimately, the Cowboys took Dak at #135, making Prescott the eighth quarterback selected and — seemingly — the perfect one for us.
Better Lucky Than Good
The Cowboys “Luck’d” into the 2016 season when Lucky Whitehead took the opening kickoff to the house for a touchdown against the Rams. Where the Cowboys really got lucky was that everything they tried to do in terms of quarterback planning went awry and that it all led to a young man by the name of Dak Prescott.
Dak Prescott has us all excited. We’ll see if he really is worth the hype. But for now? He’s our #QuarterDAK.
What do you make of Dak Prescott’s road to the Cowboys? Let us know! Comment below, Email me at RJ@RJOchoaShow.com, or Tweet to me at @RJOchoa!
FYI: I think the word you want is “awry” not “array”.
… so true. Fixed. Thanks!
RJ Ocha: Keep up the K Moore bashing if it makes you feel good, but you are wrong. K Moore was given a chance to be the 2nd team QB in 2016 because of his performance in 2015 and previous body of work. S Linehan who is a QB expert and experienced NFL offensive coordinator said he could play in the NFL and be a good backup for T Romo. You and many others may not believe this but you also refuse to attack S Linehan publically as incompetent. I will take S Linehan at his word. S Linehan has also explained why he thinks K Moore can play and has said his arm is strong enough and he compensates for his arm not being the strongest in the NFL, with his accuracy, timing and uncanny anticipation. K Moore in 2015 did not win any games but did fairly well considering it was his first time playing against first team defenses and he had limited reps to get ready to play. Before criticizing K Moore for his first two and one half games, compare him to any starter in the NFL, their first two or three games. I bet he did pretty well with this comparison. He moved the ball and did a lot of good things per S Linehan but also made too many mistakes. Based on K Moore’s previous body of work these deficiencies/mistakes seemed to be uncharacteristic for K Moore and I am confident the coaches and FO thought K Moore could improve on them with more experience/reps. He was made the 2nd team backup for good reasons. He would of also most likely done very well in the preseason Los Angeles game as Prescott did. Prescott was not getting a lot of pressure and made good decisions and had some easy throws mixed in with a few harder throws. He was composed/confident and very accurate, which are K Moore’s strengths. We will see how Prescott does in future preseason games with a lot more pressure and better defenses.
It’s not that anyone thinks Scott Linehan is incompetent because he supports Kellen Moore, as you have mentioned. But as the team’s Offensive Coordinator, when speaking about an active player who is currently in good standing on a fairly classy team (drug suspensions and Greg Hardy hurt us a bit there), it’ll be a cold day in hell before he outwardly bashes one of his players. Whether justified or not, these coaches simply do not air negative opinions about their players. And that’s a great thing.
But don’t be fooled. Linehan not saying that Kellen Moore can’t be an NFL quarterback does not mean he thinks he is the best man for the job, on the roster or not. His praise for Moore is not a put-down of Dak Prescott either.
IF … big if … Prescott can continue to perform throughout preseason, then he will unseat Moore as the team’s #2 quarterback, and it will have almost nothing to do with positive or negative views of Moore.
The big advantages Moore has over Prescott right now are experience and consistency. Give Prescott a little time and those advantages are called into question. But Prescott has to show that he can continue to make smart plays and remain in control, of himself and the game. We could debate how long he needs to do that before he closes in on Moore’s advantages, but I’d venture a guess that the Cowboys’ coaches are very willing to name Prescott the primary backup to Tony Romo if he performs well in preseason.
Franchise quarterbacks are rare. They’re so rare that never has every NFL team had a legitimate franchise QB together in the same year. Backup quarterbacks are not so rare. There is competition for their job and personal feelings and attitudes play a part.
But make no mistake, when push comes to shove, the most likable guy in the world will get benched in favor of upside, potential, and most of all, dollars-to-doughnuts performance; numbers, completions, percentages, yards, touchdowns.
There are a lot of talented people on this offense. The #2 QB is going to come down to who can go out on the field and produce the biggest results with that talent. Jamiell Showers is a project player; I wouldn’t even say project quarterback with him, but overall player, so he’s not likely to get the nod, barring injuries to all of those ahead of him on the depth chart. At least for this year.
Unfortunately, Kellen Moore is injured and must rely on previous performances to do his bidding. Cold, hard facts today — which could change each of the next three weeks — are that Kellen Moore hasn’t won anything more than Dak Prescott hasn’t won anything (Prescott has only had one opportunity, Kellen has had several). But keep in mind, Prescott had the team up 3 TDs when Showers came in the game. He did his job against the Rams.
But there’s a lot of time left for Prescott to screw up and give your boy Kellen a shot to stand on precedence. I’m telling you now, though, If Prescott continues his play thus far throughout the preseason, I want Tony Romo, Dak Prescott, and Kellen Moore on the depth chart come Sept. 11. In that order.
Bryson Treece: I agree with most of what you said. It has always been true that D Prescott has more upside potential than K Moore. They thought there was a chance he could replace T Romo some day when they drafted him. I don’t think they think K Moore is likely to replace T Romo some day because of his physical limitations. They do think K Moore could be a solid 2nd team QB and why he was the designated 2nd team QB going into 2016 with the idea D Prescott would most likely need 2016 for learning/development/adjustment. Also, it is not just what S Linehan has said about K Moore but also the fact they were willing to go with him at 2nd team for 2016 after the disaster last year that says they have quite a bit of confidence in K Moore. I think what is most likely to happen is they are still likely to bring in another more veteran QB and not be ready to make D Prescott the 2nd team QB for 2016. I have said all along that if D Prescott can earn the 2nd team QB in 2016 he is not only a quick learner/developer but also has a high probability of being the next franchise QB. I wish him the best in the rest of the preseason games.
Garrett has this thing about veteran backup QBs that I just don’t get. I understand it, and agree with the merits of the argument, but I can’t let that overwhelm the basic logic that with age comes experience, and with age comes limited capability. Sure, the vet might throw smarter, but can he make the smart throw?
I liked the Kellen Moore last year because of that. He’s young and still has the capability to play, and he’s got a lot of learning under his belt.
Personally, I don’t want to see a more veteran QB brought in. Not from what I saw Saturday. I’m definitely looking for more of the same in two days, next week, and the week after that. It’s my hope they will give Dak every opportunity to play during preseason, ceasing the opportunity to really test him under the guise of primary backup rather than evaluating players for the sake of evaluating players.
I want that because I think, in 2016, Romo, Prescott, and Moore is a solid lineup at QB. Moore, once he’s healthy, can be that vet presence they like so much, and Dak can be ready for some experience.
Now, if Dak collapses in the remaining preseason games, this all changes. But I like what I saw of the man in LA, and I grant that performance could’ve just been luck. But the way he handled himself wasn’t luck, that was character and character goes a long way at a lead-heavy position like QB.
I always liked Kellen Moore. I shouted at my TV for Garrett to put Moore in when Cassel sucked and I was glad when they signed him, because I knew what he was. But I’ve never been able to give him more credit than I think he deserves. He’s a good #2 in a league where great #2s go on to start somewhere (B. Osweiler for example, and a bit of a stretch on the great part).
Anyway, as ALWAYS, thanks for reading and commenting.