While it's never been a bad thing, having the best quarterback is a key ingredient to success in the modern NFL. The 2022 Dallas Cowboys are leaning on that advantage as they pursue the elusive goal of being repeat winners in the NFC East.
Terms like “passing league” and “QB-driven” have become rote over the last two decades. But that's because it generally proves true; the teams with the best passers generally win their divisions and have sustained playoff appearances.
When it comes to the Cowboys' Dak Prescott, where he stands in that “best passers” conversation is an evergreen hot topic. But whether you see him as NFL elite or a second-tier QB, or even if you have significant doubts about his credentials, Prescott goes into this season as the clear front-runner among his NFC East rivals.
Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts is still trying to establish himself as a consistent winner. The Eagles went 8-7 in Hurts' 15 games last season and the second-year QB had middling passing production at best. He came up short in the playoff loss to Tampa Bay, completing just 53% of his passes and throwing two interceptions.
Still, at least Hurts has shown glimpses of a future winner who's trending upward. That's more than the Commanders or Giants can say about their quarterbacks.
Carson Wentz, now trying to resurrect his career in Washington, is coming off an all-over-the-place year with the Colts. He started all 17 games, a nice feat given his injury history, but was among the NFL's worst in completion percentage and yardage per game. That said, Wentz did finish 10th in touchdowns and 13th in passer rating.
Daniel Jones is still trying to prove he's even a worthy NFL starter. New York's clearly dubious, declining to pick up his 5th-year option for 2023 and making their young QB play for his job in 2022. But as one of the league's least-efficient passers last season Jones will have to make a dramatic leap forward in his play to still be the Giants' starter next year.
So that's the competition. What about Dak Prescott?
In a year where the focus was staying healthy and coming back from his devastating 2020 leg injury, Prescott immediately reasserted himself as one of the NFL's most productive and efficient quarterbacks.
- 4th in completion percentage
- 5th in touchdowns
- 7th in yards-per-game
- 3rd in passer rating
While transitions on the offensive line and at wide receiver leave some questions about Dallas' offense in 2022, the ability of its QB to produce and win shouldn't be among them. Prescott has led the Cowboys to winning records in all but one of his five full seasons, finishing 8-8 in 2019.
Coincidentally, Dallas has also won the NFC East three times in those same five years.
We know all too well that predicting based on averages and generalized concepts is dangerous. The ripple effect of an injury at left tackle, wide receiver, or some other spot can leave an offense and its quarterback in a much worse place than you'd have imagined.
But based on the evidence we have and the current trajectories of the four starting quarterbacks involved, Dak Prescott enters 2022 in a much more trustworthy place than Jalen Hurts, Carson Wentz, and Daniel Jones. That is a clear and invaluable advantage working in the Dallas Cowboys' favor this season.
OK, so DP may be the best QB in THAT division, which may be the worst in the league, and QB comps aren’t very good. Put him other divisions and he is second or third or even fourth (AFC West: Herbert, Mahomes, Wilson,).
Yes, it helps them for the playoffs as that could give them six auto wins. Still not sold on him though, as I’ve been saying for quite a while. Look at the PS record!!! Until he gets to at LEAST a conference championship game, IMO he is overated, overpaid and overhyped. UNFORTUNATELY for us fans.
Games won isn’t a QB stat, that is a team stat!! Getting to a conference championship will take the whole team, not just Dak!! So your opinion doesn’t make any sense!! And you saying he’s overrated and overhyped, doesn’t make any sense either, cause for some reason there’s a lot of people out there like you that seem to think that a football team is made up of one QB and that’s it!! So there’s a lot of people out there that think Dak isn’t good or is mediocre, so he isn’t overrated or overhyped!! But like I said, what you people don’t understand is that football is a TEAM sport, not a single player sport!! You don’t see games played with just the QB running on the field do you…. No you don’t!! So again, your opinion doesn’t make any sense, and how you judge Dak doesn’t make any sense either!! But if you look at QB stats alone…. Like a normal person should do to judge a QB, you’ll see plain as day that Dak is at the worst a top 10 QB in the NFL!!
I hear that a lot, “team sport”, when people give a negative opinion on DP. And I’ve have talked about the GREAT O-line, great RB (Zeke), great RECs (Dez, Witten, Copper, Lamb, etc) that DP has had on his team, so not going to rehash. HE HAS HAD GOOD TEAMS/PLAYERS AROUND HIM, so let’s put that BS to bed.
Bottom line and AGAIN, ONE PLAYOFF WIN IN SIX YEARS!
Let me preface this next part by saying the following opinion by a NFL player is just catching up to what I have been commenting about for at least the past two years.
Former Cowboy player, DE Chris Canty, calls DP the MOST OVERATED PLAYER in the NFL.
To quote Canty;
“Since 2016, no QB has done LESS with MORE”. Finally, some brutal reality.
Other former Cowboy people have soured on DP as well, Drew Pearson, Michael Irvin, Jimmy Johnson, etc. Look, as a Cowboy fan since 1966, I wish it were different, but I’m not going to hype this guy just because he is the present Cowboy QB. I wished they didn’t give him that really dumb contract (that’s also holding the team back), and somehow traded him. IMO, he just doesn’t appear to be THAT GUY to get us to the BIG GAME.
Tallest midget.
That’s Dak who has been given no help by an inept OC
And spare me the numbers, he looked awesome against team in the bottom half of NFL D’s
Against those in the top half? Outside of the Tampa Bay game, he was average at best.
You want to impress Cowboy Nation. Take Da Boys to the NFC title game.
I agree that Dak Prescott is the best Quarterback in the NFC East. I think his progress is being hindered by that incompetent and idiotic Kellen Moore. If he’s so damned smart, why isn’t he a Head Coach somewhere in the league? Jobs were available last off season and everybody told his ass no thanks! He’s a younger version of Jason Garrett. We all know the Jerry a d Stephen Jones kept him around way too long.
Since when was Chris Canty hired as a talent evaluator in the NFL? Jimmy Johnson, Drew Pearson, and Michael Irvin all won Super Bowls in Dallas. Canty didn’t! Maybe he could look back thru the Cowboys archives and see something more he could’ve done to push the team over the top. He was a below average defender trying to be critical of an offensive player. Dak’s not Brady or Rogers, but his Cowboys career stands head and shoulders above Canty’s. Get rid of Kellen Moore and replace him with an innovative OC and this team will improve just as it did with the arrival of Dan Quinn to Ron the defense.
Yeah, and HOFers Irvin, Pearson and Johnson (and others) all have expressed varying negative opinions on DP. Knocking Canty’s Cowboy career doesn’t preclude him from having a brutally honest opinion. BTW, he was an above average DE.
Every year, for six years now, the EXCUSE makers come out for DP. ALL PRO, PRO BOWLER WR Dez, all of a sudden, could not “separate” or “run routes” good enough for DP, GONE. Bring in Amari Cooper, the proclaimed “missing piece”, NOW HE’S GONE. Jason Garrett wasn’t good enough, GONE. Bring in McCarty, who is already taking fire and on the hot seat. Latest scape goat, Kellen Moore, WHO WAS A GENIUS THE FIRST HALF OF LAST YEAR, then supposedly sucked in the second half, even though he was the same guy. Now, according to some, he should be GONE. RIDICULOUS.
The trouble with excuses is that they become inevitably difficult to believe after they’ve been used a few times. In DP’s case, he should be running out of them. But the FO made a major mistake in, as Jerry Jones said, OVERPAYING this hyped up, overrated player, with that dumb LONG term contract, that will most likely, hold this team back.
ONE FIRST ROUND, 2 POINT PLAYOFF WIN IN SIX YEARS. ENOUGH SAID.