Say it with me – the Dallas Cowboys are the best team in the National Football League, and Dak Prescott is one of the greatest rookie quarterbacks of all time. For the purpose of this article, these are facts, as they were before you opened this, and before anyone overlooked Prescott as a potential franchise QB prior to the 2016 Draft.
So how did we get to this point? “Best team in the NFL” was seldom a term used to describe Tony Romo’s Cowboys, yet quarterback was never the position holding America’s Team back.
Through years of rebuilding, retooling, and going 8-8, the Cowboys were always good enough at QB, and simply not elsewhere. Now, 2016’s Cowboys may not be great everywhere – but good enough – and great at quarterback.
The Cowboys Current Greatness at the QB Position Goes Beyond Dak Prescott and Tony Romo.
Another fact to keep in mind is that you can’t win in this league without a quarterback, whatever that may mean. Thus, sports’ most important position on its most important team needs to be overseen carefully.
Coaching up the entirety of the Cowboys roster is Jason Garrett, a players’ coach that played QB in the NFL for 12 years. In his early parts of his head coaching career with the Cowboys, Garrett’s success was dependent on Romo. Stop me if that sounds familiar.
This summer though, Garrett latched onto his impressive rookie in Prescott – partaking in throwing competitions after practices and building a strong relationship with a quarterback that Dallas graded very highly during the draft process.
When Garrett can rely on the QB-specific coaches to work with young Dak Prescott, he can turn to not only Romo but QB Coach Wade Wilson, Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan, and even Kellen Moore and Mark Sanchez. While Moore may not be a coach, Prescott praised the once backup QB for his knowledge at the position with his experience under Linehan in Detroit.
Dak Prescott called Kellen Moore a genius behind the scenes. "He's an offensive coordinator in his own mind. He's great."
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 28, 2016
Moore might not be the next Tom Brady, as some fans once projected, but he is a guy that’s made it in the highest level of football thanks to his intelligence (which trumps his physical abilities) specifically in Scott Linehan’s system – one he’s been studying since 2009 playing for Linehan as a Lion.
Sanchez, who was a win away from the Super Bowl in his first two seasons as a starter with the Jets, has reportedly also had a big influence on Prescott this season as a “coach on the field” with his journeyman experience.
Dak Prescott said after every win Mark Sanchez reminds him to take 15-30 minutes to soak it all in and enjoy it
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 29, 2016
As for the actual coaches in the Cowboys’ QB Room, Wilson brings 18 years of NFL quarterback experience, while Linehan’s long track record with talented QBs has been on full display each week, with his creative play-calling driving the high-powered and rookie-led Cowboys’ offense.
Dak Prescott couldn’t have it any better.
The depth, from top to bottom at quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys is unrivaled right now – much like the team on the field. When Cowboys Nation clamored in years past for help on defense, the offensive line, or at skill positions in support of Romo, they failed to realize that the problems were at QB – but were not with Romo.
What would 2015 have been? You know, the Dallas season that seems like ages ago, but was actually just last year. With a Dak Prescott sitting behind Tony Romo earlier in his career, would this team’s Super Bowl drought be over?
Now, Romo sits behind Prescott, arguably making him the single best backup quarterback in the league. At the bottom of this unprecedented QB shuffle is a foundation of coaches and other QBs that make the currently 13-2 Cowboys what they are – a model for franchises around the league.
Not all Super Bowl winning quarterbacks are created equal, as the 2016 Cowboys are looking to prove with a kid out of Mississippi State – who’s named was called 135th in the draft to come join the best suited team in the world right now to groom a developing star.
