Dak Prescott has over 1,100 yards, elite efficiency, and MVP-level statistics, yet the national media still downplays his value compared to others, such as Jalen Hurts.
Dak Prescott’s 2025 Start
Through four weeks of the 2025 season, Dak Prescott has been nothing short of outstanding.
He’s completed 121 of 166 passes for 1,119 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions.
His completion percentage of 72.9% ranks among the best in the NFL, and his 95.4 passer rating and 74.2 QBR prove he’s not just managing games — he’s excelling.
Prescott has already logged two 300-yard performances, including a 361-yard, two-touchdown win over the Giants and a 319-yard, three-touchdown showcase against Green Bay.
These aren’t hollow numbers; they’ve kept Dallas in games where the defense faltered and the margin for error was razor-thin.
Advanced Efficiency Proves His Case
Beyond traditional stats, advanced analytics put Prescott right in the thick of the MVP race.
According to CowboysWire / USA Today, his adjusted EPA per play ranks among the top quarterbacks in football. EPA doesn’t just measure yards; it evaluates impact per snap — third downs, red-zone possessions, and high-leverage situations.
Prescott has been consistently positive in those areas, raising the Cowboys’ scoring potential almost every time he takes a snap.
That efficiency separates him from quarterbacks who pile up empty yards in blowouts. Dak’s production is directly tied to winning football.
Media Narratives vs. Rankings
National outlets have slowly begun to acknowledge Prescott’s production, but the narrative still lags behind.
In the CBS Sports Week 5 QB Power Rankings, Prescott moved up after his overtime duel against Green Bay. Another CBS feature went further, calling him “money this season,” highlighting his indispensable value to Jerry Jones’ franchise.
Pro Football Focus also rates him as one of the league’s most efficient quarterbacks in both clean-pocket and pressured situations. Yet despite these validations, national debates continue to elevate others — quarterbacks with shakier production — while treating Prescott like a second-tier option.
The Hurts Comparison
Jalen Hurts’ season illustrates the double standard.
He has thrown for just 609 yards in four games, averaging only 152 yards per outing, with five touchdowns and no interceptions. His QBR sits at 67.5, nearly seven points below Prescott’s 74.2.
If another quarterback posted back-to-back games under 150 passing yards, there would be serious questions. Instead, Hurts is routinely praised as a “winner.”
Meanwhile, Prescott, who has nearly doubled Hurts’ passing yardage with a higher completion percentage and better efficiency metrics, is rarely treated with the same respect.
That contrast shows how reputation, not production, drives much of the media’s quarterback discourse.
The Bigger Picture for Dallas
What makes Prescott’s season even more impressive is the context around him.
Dallas has shuffled its offensive line, cycled through receivers, and dealt with a defense that hasn’t lived up to expectations. Prescott has been the stabilizing force, elevating the team when others have faltered.
Without him, the Cowboys could easily be sitting near the bottom of the standings. Instead, his accuracy and leadership have kept them competitive, even in games where the odds tilted against them.
That’s the very definition of value — lifting the roster and producing when the margin for error is slim.
Time for Recognition
The numbers, the analytics, and the context all point in the same direction: Dak Prescott is playing at an MVP level. Yet the national conversation still frames him as a quarterback with something to prove. The reality is that he has already proven it.
If he wore a different uniform, he’d be hailed as a frontrunner. Instead, he continues to fight through outdated narratives while outperforming his peers, who are often celebrated for less.
It’s time for the media to shift its lens and recognize Prescott for what he is in 2025 — one of the NFL’s very best quarterbacks and a legitimate MVP candidate.
I would be the first admit that I wasn’t very high on Prescott when he was drafted 10 years ago. Thought he would be no more than a serviceable backup QB in the league. In these last few years, I have given him credit for being one tough hombre and demonstrating leadership on this luckless ballclub.
Mostly correct. But you missed on one crucial point. The reason Jalen Hurts is rated so highly this years is that he’s the current Super Bowl MVP and he’s currently at 4-0. He’s ‘routinely praised as a “winner”’ because he’s winning.
That shows how victories, not statistics, drives much of the media’s quarterback discourse.
And to some extent, it should. If you are ahead, you stop passing and start running. When you’re behind, you pass more.
I’m not denigrating Dak’s performance this season; he’s doing phenomenally well. But looking at yards per game gives an unfairly low evaluation of winning quarterbacks, and an unfairly high evaluation of quarterbacks that spend large parts of the games behind.
I have to disagree!! And if your right and that’s why hurts is rated so high then I think they need a new job too!! Because for 1, the Super Bowl was last season, so that shouldn’t have anything to do with how he’s playing this season!! And 2, the facts are that hurts is not winning these games this year for his team, the defense is the ones winning the games for them!! And they’ll be the first to tell you that too!! Both of the receivers are putting the offense down because they aren’t getting any targets, and that’s bad when they have 2 receivers as good as Brown and Smith, but they’re complaining about not getting targets!! And then the coaches are saying they knew Barkley wasn’t gonna be as good this season after running for over 2,000 yards last season, and so far he hasn’t been as good, so apparently that’s true!! And hurts…. It’s obvious he’s not the reason his team is winning!! If he’s only got 600 passing yards after 4 weeks, that means he’s not passing much!! That means he’s only averaging 150 passing yards a game!! That’s not the passing yards you see from a QB that’s winning games for his team!! So 3 agree with the article, he shouldn’t be ranked so high, he’s not that good, and he’s definitely not winning games for his team!!
And one more thing I wanted to point out…. The eagles are 4-0 right now, but they’re lucky to have that record!! If it wasn’t for Sanders fumbling at the 10 yard line, and then Ceedee dropping those 4 passes, we would’ve beaten them in week 1 in Philly!! That shows that they only won most of the games they’ve won this season by luck!! They just have things go their way this season!! But if those rare things like the Ceedee drops don’t happen, the eagles would be lucky to be 2-2 right now, maybe even worse!! But like I said, they were lucky enough to have those rare mistakes happen in their favor, and that’s the only reason they’re 4-0 right now
But like I said above…. Hurts shouldn’t be ranked as high as he is, he’s not the player they think he is this year, and he’s definitely not the reason his team is winning this season!!
Statistically, DP is having a good 4 game beginning of the season, and credit to him. IMO, it’s WAY too early to talk about MVP. To play devil’s advocate and try to understand why he is not getting “recognition”, and since Hurts was mentioned, let’s look at that situation as it is right now.
Philly has won all 4 of their games, while Dallas has won 1 out of 4. So maybe it’s safe to assume the leader of the team that is undefeated will get more “recognition”. MVP awards normally do not go to players on a team with a losing record. And fair or not, past performances can have an effect on current situations. Hurts, at 27 years old, has a 6-3 playoff record, that includes 2 Super Bowl games, winning one and losing the other by 3 to Mahomes/Chiefs. Prescott, at 32 years old, has 2 first round playoff wins. Until DP goes DEEP into the playoffs, fairly or unfairly, he will never be recognized as an elite QB.
Obviously, the defense has been bad this year so far. That said, however, there have been DP years when the defense has been decent or even good. Can’t continually have excuses for DP, which always seems to be the case EVERY year. If it’s not the defense, it’s the injuries, or the penalties, or the coaches. Seen it all.
Bottomline, and much more importantly, Cowboys have start WINNING games.
The problem with your theory is that hurts isn’t the reason Philly has won all 4 of their games, as a matter of fact, they have won those games in spite of hurts!! The only reason they won all 4 games is because of their defense, not hurts!! And they are ranking the QBs based on their play this year, so the past don’t have anything to do with it!! And if it does, then they need to find a new job, because the past has nothing to do with the way they’re playing this year!! Ranking QBs this year are supposed to be based on how the QB is playing this year!! And it don’t matter what the win/loss record is for the team, it should only matter on how good the QB is this season, and the facts are that Dak has been far better than hurts has been this year!! And if it wasn’t for our defense, chances are we would be 4-0 right now!! And in week 1, we had the eagles beat, the only thing that cost us the game was the fumble by Sanders at the 10 yard line, and the 4 rare drops by Ceedee!! And I still think that if we didn’t lose Ceedee so early in the bears game, we would have won that game too!! But losing him so early messed up the whole game plan and it’s hard to get over that!! At worst, we should be 3-0-1 right now, but again, if it wasn’t for the defense, we would have beaten the packers too!! And all of this is because Dak has been so good!! We have been so good on offense because of Dak!! But that can’t be said about hurts!! They’re winning games because of the team, mostly the defense, not because of hurts, and that should have a big part in ranking the QBs!! And if they ranked them like they should and ranked them by the QBs actual play, Dak would be much higher than hurts!! But the facts are that they show favoritism, and they rank them more on favorites than actual QB play!! And if Dak was on a different team, and he was playing this good, he would be ranked ahead of hurts!! And one more thing is that if Dak played on any of the last few Super Bowl winning teams, he would have won those Super Bowls too!! And that’s because it takes the whole team to win games, not just the QB!! And that’s just facts!! So again, the winning record or past success or anything like that shouldn’t have anything to do with how a QB is ranked, they should only be ranked by how good they’re playing right now, and facts are that Dak is better than hurts right now!!