To say that the Dallas Cowboys were more lucky than good by drafting Dak Prescott would be an understatement. They used their second pick in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft for heaven sakes.
Who would have ever guessed the 135th overall draft pick would lead the Cowboys on a 10 game winning streak and regulate Tony Romo to backup duty?
The things that Dak Prescott has done since taking over as the starting quarterback for America’s Team is simply mind blowing. To think, this is coming from a player that was no better than third on the depth chart just four months ago.
Through the first 11 games of the 2016 season, Prescott has shown the poise, efficiency, and most importantly production of a veteran QB. He has by far outperformed any quarterback in the 2016 draft class, and perhaps any rookie QB in the history of the NFL.
To date, he has from for 2,835 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, and just two interceptions. He has also rushed for 180 yards and scored five touchdowns.
Those numbers alone will rival just about any rookie QB to ever play the game, but don’t forget he has only played in 11 games and there is still a lot of football left in the 2016 season.
Need more convincing?
Prescott is third in the NFL in both passer rating (108.6) and yards per attempt (8.34). That’s pretty impressive considering future Hall of Famer’s Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, and Aaron Rodgers don’t have passer ratings as high as Prescott.
If Dak Prescott continues the pace he is on through the remainder of the season, he will have approximately 4,200 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and a measly three interceptions. And that’s not even mentioning what he can accomplish as a runner.
It’s simply amazing when you think about it.
Here are some of the best season’s by a rookie QB for comparison sake:
| Player | Year | Yards | TDs | Int. |
| Robert Griffin III | 2012 | 3,200 | 20 | 5 |
| Russell Wilson | 2012 | 3,118 | 26 | 10 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 2004 | 2,621 | 17 | 11 |
| Dan Marino | 1983 | 2,210 | 20 | 6 |
You may notice that RG3 has had arguably the best season by a rookie QB, but it’s kind of his only claim to fame so far in his professional career.
Injuries, the lack of development, or some other unknown factor have somehow derailed his career to the point where he might not get another chance to be a starting QB in the NFL.
Prescott’s numbers are similar already and that’s just through 11 games so far. He is still on pace to surpass RG3’s rookie numbers and there’s just something about him that leads me to believe he is just starting to scratch the surface of his true potential.
Russell Wilson had a great rookie season as well in 2012. He nearly had the same passing yards as RG3, but threw twice as many interceptions.
Wilson is still one of the better QB’s in the NFL and has a Super Bowl ring to prove it. Something we all hope Prescott earns in the near future.
Ben Roethlisberger, like Wilson, has a Super Bowl ring to prove that he’s one of the better QB’s in the entire NFL. He also had a really good rookie season, but still not like what the Cowboys are getting from Dak Prescott.
That’s brings us to Dan Marino. If you take into consideration what the passing game was like in 1983 and what it has evolved into now, Marino might have the most impressive performance by rookie QB in the history of the NFL.
Pass interference was pretty much nonexistent and not many teams where as pass happy as they are in the NFL today. Still, Prescott has already surpassed Marino’s numbers and they will only continue to fail in comparison when all things are said and done.
So, as you can see, not only were the Dallas Cowboys more lucky than good, but they are fortunate enough to have found a quarterback that could become the best to ever play the game. At least, that’s what his rookie production would suggest.
Do you think Dak Prescott is the best rookie QB in NFL history?
Please feel free to use the comment section below to share your thoughts and opinions about Dak Prescott.
He is not that good. He is not an accurate passer. He is not good under pressure. He is lucky he was brought to this good team with such a great o-line and running back. I guarantee he wouldnt be performing the same with any other team.
Mike, I agree landing in the perfect situation has helped him immensely, but you can’t deny what he’s been able to do on the field. Yes, he needs to work on his accuracy and he struggles a little bit under pressure, but that could be said about any rookie QB. He continues to get better each game and I think he is just scratching the surface of his potential.
Clearly Mike you are an Eagles or Redskins fan or for some other reason a Dak hater. To nitpick things about Dak’s game shows pure lunacy on your part. Struggles under pressure??? Dak thrives under pressure with pocket prescence well beyond his years. He has great escapability and hits right windows on the run. Does he not see an open receiver occasionally? Does he throw behind or above a receiver on occasion? Yes to both but good grief so do QB’s with years of experience!! I’m not here to answer the question of whether he is the greatest rookie QB of all time. What I care most about is whether we are winning games and we are in large part because of our awesome offense of which he is a big part. No sir you cannot pick apart his game because the stats speak for themselves. So take your troll bait somewhere else because really you are just making yourself look stupid!
Thanks for commenting Randy. I don’t know if I could have said it better myself.
Same o-line and a thousand-yard rusher last year. But it looked entirely different. You’re not being fair to what you’re seeing with your own eyes. You’re not respecting the game which we love. Pay attention. It’s happening without you.
Dak versus rookie QBs in the past 10 years. Prescott has been stellar when down-and-distances were not ideal. His 82.0 QBR when the Cowboys needed more than 10 yards for a first down ranks first among the 28 rookies. Prescott has had the ball in his hands as a passer or runner 43 times in those situations, five fewer than the average for the 28 rookies since 2006. Prescott ranks seventh among the 28 in QBR (59.4) on third-and-5 or longer, and he’s ninth among all qualifying quarterbacks in the NFL this season. He has completed 39 of 57 passes for 427 yards with two TDs, one pick and five sacks in these situations First in QBR (54.5) among the 28 rookies on 87 action plays when pressured. He’s also first in QBR (88.8) when not pressured, and eighth when facing five or more pass-rushers (74.4). Prescott ranks fourth among the 28 rookies in QBR (83.0) when tied or trailing by one score in fourth quarters. He has completed 25 of 42 passes for 283 yards with one TD, no picks and one sack in these situations. Dallas is 3-1 in games when Prescott played in fourth quarters while tied or trailing by one score. Kind of contradicts what you said about pressure and accuracy.
Mike, I disagree with most of your comments, especially the one about struggling under pressure. To that point, most qbs struggle under pressure, but he reads blitzes very good for a rookie, gets out of the pressure by using his feet and making plays down the field. Seems like you just want to be a critic, because you can.
How many interceptions has he thrown?
Stuart, one of the reasons why Prescott slipped to the fourth round was because a lot of scouts had believed he wasn’t a very accurate passer. Prescott continues to improve in this area and the further along he gets in his development, it should only continue to get better.
Great to finally see an article extolling the positive performance of Dak Prescott. As far as the reader’s comments about accuracy. Prescott is currently 6th in the NFL in completion percentage 67.9%. As for pressure Prescott has completed 25 of 28 passes in the fourth quarter over the last four games, including six completions on seven attempts during the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ 31-26 win over the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving. Overall, Prescott has completed 69.4 percent of his fourth quarter passes this season, with four touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 109.1 passer rating. Did anyone see the ending to the win against the Eagles?
Thanks for commenting Mike. I started to add a lot of those statistics to the article, but didn’t want to overdo it ha ha.
Brian, good job. Very informative. Just addressing comment on Prescott’s “lack” of accuracy and “struggles” under pressure. Ha, ha!
Mike, I love getting positive feedback ;-). I really can’t wait to see how much Prescott will improve over the course of his career. It’s simply amazing the things he’s been able to accomplish as a rookie.
Amazingly, QB Dak Prescott has only thrown three incompletions in the fourth quarter or overtime this season.
Mike, he has definitely been clutch when it’s counted the most.
Dak will be spoken about in the same breath with Staubach and Aikman, when it’s all said and done. How About Them Cowboys, Super Bowl Bound!!
Robert, I certainly hope that’s the case.
After, its all said and done. Dak, will be spoken in the same breath with Staubach and Aikman!! How About Them Cowboys!!
Thanks for commenting Robert. He has certainly been impressive so far. Let’s hope he can continue developing and lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory.
Dak is a class act, on and off the field. Most impressive to me, is his ability to step back during the course of the game, and see what errors are happening, and go in with renewed vitality and correct his problems. He always gives credit to the team, and supports them all with a kind word or gesture, that already makes them look up to him as a leader, even in his youth. Yes, he’s not perfect, but even the best have bad moments or even full games. He will be one the best, history will prove it!
Beth, thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I really like your assessment of Prescott. I liked him coming out of college, but I didn’t really think he would be this good so early in his career. He has been really impressive so far and I’m excited to see how his career plays out.
I love Dak but Dan Marino came into the NFL a finished product. The numbers don’t show it because the numbers nowadays are nuts but Dan Marino was pretty much the best passer in the NFL the moment he came into the league.
For some of you Dak-haters, you embarrass yourself. Stop it.