Cooper Rush has been the least talked about quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys’ 2021 offseason prior to last night’s loss to the Texans. But after clearly outshining Garrett Gilbert against Houston, Rush appears to be making a good case to get his old job back.
Undrafted in 2017, Rush had a stellar preseason and eventually took over as the primary backup over Kellen Moore midway through his rookie year. He held that job for two more seasons before leaving as a free agent in 2020, replaced by veteran Andy Dalton.
Cooper followed Jason Garrett to the Giants but didn’t make the roster. He spent a month on their practice squad but was eventually released. About a month later, Dallas brought Rush back when injuries had ended Dak Prescott’s season and cost Dalton a few games.
Rush returned this year but as a seeming afterthought. Gilbert was the clear favorite to be QB2 and Ben DiNucci was the developmental project in his second season. Nobody really saw Cooper as a legitimate contender in 2021.
Based on a comment by Mike McCarthy following last night’s game, that appears to have changed.
Gilbert has hardly impressed in his preseason action thus far, producing only one field goal on drives he’s led. He and Rush have looked fairly similar in Dallas’ first two games but last night Cooper looked far more poised and efficient.
Everything in preseason is relative of course. Plays aren’t being called like they will in September and the players on both sides of the ball may not be the same guys you’ll work with and against in the regular season.
Unless he was just sending a message to Gilbert, McCarthy’s indicates that the Cowboys are about to take Rush much more seriously.
Remember, this same front office trusted Rush to be Prescott’s backup for two-and-a-half seasons. Kellen Moore, now offensive coordinator, lost his QB2 job to Cooper a few years ago. He has equity with some of the key decision makers on the offense.
Garrett Gilbert could still win in the end. There’s one more preseason game to go and plenty of practices before the team has to make final cuts. This conversation is far from over.
But at least after last night, it appears that Cooper Rush got the conversation started.
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I have always liked what I have seen from Rush when he was actually given a chance to play. I hope he wins the job. Thankful that after Dinucci’s 3 INT performance on Saturday that we will not be seeing any more of him and his side arm throws after the preseason is over. He is welcome to the last two quarters of garbage time next week. I don’t think Gilbert is a bad option, but I do believe Rush is the more aggressive of the two. I just wish we could see each with the 1’s on offense next week but with it being the last game of the preseason they will likely be competing for this job with a less than stellar supporting cast.
If I remember correctly, Rush made a bit of a splash a few years ago with the Cowboys in Preseason games. Then he was cut sometime after that, then was picked up by the Giants where he was again cut some time afterwards. Did he look better than GG vs Texans, yes. Can he be inserted as our backup because he looks better than GG and BD, yes, especially if they are standing pat with one of these three. Does that make him a solid, credible QB2? If he is the backup, I wish him good luck.