With Dak Prescott expected to miss several weeks, and possibly land on IR, due to a hamstring injury, recovery time is usually 4-6 weeks.
There is one player on the Dallas Cowboys who benefits greatly from this situation. Trey Lance, the Cowboys’ third string quarterback.
Inside The Star Staff Writer, Mario Herrera Jr., laid out a strong case for starting Trey Lance this Sunday against the Eagles.
While I agree with his premise, unless something happens to Cooper Rush before kickoff, Lance will be on the sidelines when the offense takes the field.
Does anyone know the current whereabouts of Jeff Gillooly, Shawn Eckardt, Derrick Smith, and Shane Stant? And there’s your obscure 1990s Olympics reference for the year.
Lance will serve as Rush’s backup for as long as Rush is starting while Prescott is sidelined. Which begs the question:
How quick a hook will Mike McCarthy have on Rush over the next two or three games?
If Rush Struggles
At 3-5 going into Sunday’s game, the Cowboys’ season is hanging by a thread. They have just an 8% chance to make the playoffs as the 10th week of the NFL season gets underway.
If Rush can replicate his run of 2022, when he won four in a row and all but saved the season, then Lance will spend a lot of time watching from the sidelines.
Let’s say Rush struggles, or Dallas is down big early, or loses the first two games, what then?
Should McCarthy seriously consider pulling Rush and turning to Lance? There is a reason to argue the case that its exactly what McCarthy should do.
A Bad Trade And Wasted Pick?
Dallas gave up a 4th round pick for Lance prior to the 2023 season. That pick was turned into safety Malik Mustapha in April’s draft by the 49ers.
Mustapha is having a solid rookie campaign in San Francisco and has started four games so far.
So, what did Jones learn from this? Nothing at all, because he just traded another fourth-round pick for a nothing burger receiver.
But I digress.
Lance hasn’t played a single down of football for Dallas since the trade. The Cowboys could have used that fourth-round pick to draft a running back this spring.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s time for Dallas to find out what they have in Lance in a regular season game.
Granted, his nightmare performance in the pre-season finale in August did nothing to aid his cause.
As it stands right now, the 49ers won this trade. Dallas, if Lance never sees the field for the Cowboys, threw away a fourth rounder along with the $2 million they’ve paid him this year and last.
How It Should Play Out
Rush should be the starter. He’s 5-1 as a starter in Dallas.
His win against Minnesota on Halloween night in 2021 was huge. Almost as large as the four-game win streak he posted in 2022.
He’s earned the right to start Sunday against the Eagles and possibly avenge that ugly three-interception loss in his last start.
He needs to be given a ball-control game plan that plays to his strengths.
If McCarthy tries to turn him into Clint “The Mad Bomber” Longley, it will be a repeat of that nightmare game in Philadelphia.
Should Rush knock off the Eagles and then the Texans, then Lance’s days in Dallas should be all but over at the end of the year. However, if Rush struggles and loses then Lance has to be given a shot.
Can Lance Get It Done?
There isn’t much of a regular season record to draw any solid conclusions from about Lance.
The 49ers traded several first-round picks to Miami to draft Lance out of North Dakota State. Two years later they gave him away for a single, fourth-round pick.
In his two injury-plagued seasons, Lance only played in eight games. He started in four of them and finished with a 2-2 record.
He threw five touchdowns against three interceptions.
He has less than 1,000 passing yards during his career and hasn’t taken a single regular season snap since September 18, 2022.
Can he get it done for Dallas in a game that matters? No one really knows.
Dallas needs to find out, if for no other reason than to know if Lance will be in Dallas as the backup in 2025, or if he has any trade value left at all.
For Lance, he may be the only person at The Star who has any silver lining in Prescott’s injury and the likely demise of the Cowboys’ 2024 season.