No one, and I mean no one, saw Dak Prescott coming. He took over the NFL in a way that completely stunned all those around him, to the point that it forced Tony Romo – the Cowboys all-time leader in passing – to retire. It’s understandable after all, there are always misses when it comes to the NFL Draft. Some people can accept this, but others feel the need to get way too hipster about it all with continual batches of takes.
Dak Prescott as rookie had great OL, run game and a true No 1 WR. Still has it, but at some point won’t. Then we’ll really learn about him.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) May 22, 2017
Let me be clear here and say that Andy Benoit does great work… but I don’t understand the point that he decided to try and circle around on Monday. There are so many thoughts that I have about this one, simple tweet that I had to take some time to write them down (you’re reading them!).
How Did We Not Learn Anything About Dak Prescott?
The insinuation that Andy is making here is that because the Dallas Cowboys have pieces around Dak Prescott in the form of an offensive line, run game, and Dez Bryant that we simply do not know anything about him. What?
Dez Bryant is an amazing wide receiver (I fell on a Janoris Jenkins-shaped sword for him on Monday because of how great he is), but he doesn’t at all make Dak Prescott who he is. Does our perpetrator here not remember that Dez Bryant missed three games? The Cowboys traveled to San Francisco, hosted Cincinnati, and went to Lambeau Field all without #88 suiting up. Dak seemed to not completely fall apart…
- San Francisco: 23/32, 245 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, win.
- Cincinnati: 18/24, 227 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions, win.
- Green Bay: 18/27, 247 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception, win.
To belittle Dez Bryant’s importance to the Dallas Cowboys would be silly, but let’s really pump the brakes on just declaring that Dak had a “true No 1 WR”. The only metric in which Dez Bryant actually finished first in on the team was touchdowns (8). He was second in yards (Cole Beasley) and third in receptions (Beasley and Jason Witten). Dez Bryant is a huge part of the Cowboys Offense, but this is a ridiculous blanket statement.
Did The Dallas Cowboys Offense Drastically Change From 2015 To 2016?
The 2015 Dallas Cowboys were a train wreck in many painful ways; however, from a roster perspective – specifically the offensive starters – not a whole lot changed when Dak Prescott took over.
Almost hard to evaluate Dak Prescott because his conditions are so favorable (OL, run game, etc.) That’s incredibly rare in NFL.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) May 22, 2017
Andy Benoit is attesting that it’s difficult to evaluate Dak Prescott… because the conditions are so favorable?! These same exact conditions – for the most part, Dez Bryant missed more time in 2015 – existed for Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel, and Kellen Moore just one year before Prescott’s arrival. Were the Offensive Line and stout run game (Darren McFadden finished 4th in rushing, the Cowboys as a team finished 9th) a favorable environment then?
Also let’s discuss how ridiculous this is besides Andy’s ignoring of the common denominators across 2015-2016. Is the implication here that no NFL quarterback can be properly evaluated if their surrounding circumstances are favorable? Is it a non-negotiable qualifier that a quarterback has to be surrounded by ineptitude for a proper evaluation to be conducted?
I suppose we should all hope that someday Dak Prescott will be surrounded by the worst talent to ever suit up in the NFL so that we can FINALLY get a proper evaluation of who he is. Yea, that makes sense. This isn’t dumb. Nope, not at all.
RJ, you hit the head of the nail, again, you’re batting 1.0000. Anyway, these so called experts, twitter, anything to receive followers, by throwing stuff, against the wall, to see if it sticks, in order, to influence public opinion.
These so called experts, are like the blind leading the blind. Dak’s talent comes every fifteen years. I wonder did our friend Andy, twitter, those thoughts, on Tom Brady, Ben Rothenberger, or Russell Wilson. I don’t think so.
With Dak’s mental toughness, those comments will not phase Dak. Being the quarterback of America Team, is the hardest job in pro sports. That in itself, is enough for a person to handle, let alone in being successful. How About Dem Cowboys!! Dak Attack!!
And yet, people have always been quick to evaluate Romo as an average quarterback even though he carried below average rosters to 8-8 seasons and when he finally had a very talented roster, 12-4.
Yes, Dak has great talent around him. But that great talent around him also had a great talent around them. Dak.
You are absolutely right in that 2015 should make any “Dak has great talent around him” arguments obsolete, but sigh, they don’t.