The quarterback position was a disaster for the 2020 Cowboys.
Though they went into the season expecting to have their franchise guy at the helm, a brutal early season injury ended Dak Prescott’s season right as it was getting started. This led to a revolving door at the quarterback spot for several weeks in Dallas, before Andy Dalton finally got healthy and held onto the job to finish the year.
One of the guys who got a spot start with Dalton out was the veteran Garrett Gilbert.
Gilbert, who bounced around the league before falling out of it entirely, signed a two year deal with the Cowboys in October of last year. He only appeared in one game in 2020, but the performance was…decent enough to earn him consideration as the backup going forward.
Garrett Gilbert’s lone start came against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were unbeaten at the time. Dallas didn’t beat Pittsburgh, but they played way more competitively than anyone expected them to prior to kickoff. Gilbert finished the game 21 of 38 for 243 yards and a touchdown. Not great stats by any means, but he was competent the entire game. And that was way more than Dallas had gotten from Ben DiNucci and Andy Dalton in previous weeks.
Now Gilbert enters the 2021 season with a chance to compete for that QB2 job.
The aforementioned Andy Dalton is entering unrestricted free agency, looking for a chance to start somewhere else. Ben DiNucci certainly didn’t earn glowing reviews from Jerry Jones, and a tight salary cap could hinder the Cowboys from looking on the open market for a backup quarterback.
The Cowboys’ number one priority this offseason should be getting Dak Prescott extended, but they can’t ignore his backup completely.
Garrett Gilbert isn’t an exciting option if Prescott were to go down in 2021, but he did earn a chance to compete for the job during his lone start last season.
