There’s been far too many pundits and fans playing fast and loose with the term “Elite Quarterback” in and around the Dallas Cowboys.
Through the end of the 2024 season, Dak Prescott is a very great quarterback. But he is still two steps removed from earning the “Elite” tag.
An “Elite” quarterback wins Super Bowls.
A “Sub-Elite” quarterback makes deep playoff runs. He gets his team to the conference championship game at the very least, or even to the Super Bowl even if he does not win.
Prescott has an 0-3 Divisional round record and is only 2-2 in the Wild Card round.
Those are not the numbers of an “Elite” or a “Sub-Elite” quarterback.
Very Great Quarterback
There is no denying that Prescott is a very great quarterback, especially in the regular season.
But he does not translate those great numbers into post-season wins.
Don’t start with the “But the defense gave up 34 points” defense either. Who put his team in a 27-0 hole before halftime with two interceptions that gave the Packers 14 free points?
You may sit down now, thank you.
This on the heels of throwing two first-half picks that led to six points for the 49ers and took at least three points away from his team in the previous playoff game.
Elite quarterbacks do not consistently do these things.
The good news is, Prescott can still take those next two steps. He can start by simply getting Dallas to the playoffs and winning a divisional round game in January.
Where Prescott Ranks
Right now, the Elite quarterbacks in the NFL are Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Matthew Stafford, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and Joe Flacco.
Although Rodgers, Wilson and Flacco are clearly not at the “Elite” level anymore, they still retain the title because they’ve gotten the job done.
Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jared Goff, Joe Burrow, Brock Purdy, and even Jayden Daniels are Sub-Elite. Daniels does need to repeat his efforts of last year to cement his status and not be considered a one-hit wonder.
Prescott, for now, rates as the best among the very great quarterbacks among the current crop of non-elite starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
Ranking The Cowboys QBs
Among the All-Time Cowboys’ starting quarterbacks, Prescott joins Tony Romo in the very great group. They both put up incredible regular season numbers.
But neither got past the Divisional round.
For now, only Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman are “Elite” as multiple Super Bowl winners should be.
Don Meredith, Craig Morton, and Danny White fall into the “Sub-Elite” group. All three came up just short.
Prescott can at least still do something about joining the Cowboys “Elite/Sub-Elite” quarterbacks. But he’ll have to earn it on the field.
Lowering the bar to get him there does him a disservice, as well as to the entire history of the franchise.
This was about the dumbest article I’ve ever read!! Just cause Dak hasn’t been to the Super Bowl and he threw 2 interceptions in that one game, he’s not elite!? That’s the dumbest reasoning ever!! There have been many QBs that were elite that never made a won a Super Bowl!! And you know why that is…. It’s cause it’s a TEAM sport!! It takes a whole team to get to the Super Bowl, not just the QB!! And you say his 2 interceptions in that Green Bay game is why Green Bay scored 14 points…. What did he do, get Green Bays receivers on the field and throw them the ball so they can score!? No…. He didn’t!! Our defense still had a chance to stop them from scoring, but they couldn’t do it!! And how did they score the other 20 points to have 34 points total?? Is that on Dak too!? No, it’s not, it’s on the defense!! And if I remember right, both of them interceptions wasn’t on Dak, at least one of them bounced off the receivers hands and into Green Bays defenders hands!! So all his interceptions can’t be blamed all on him!! And you can’t sit there and write this garbage and say that elite QBs don’t throw interceptions like that, cause there’s not one QB ever in NFL history that hasn’t thrown more than one interception in a game!! It happens…. Even to the best of them!! But like I said, this is a TEAM sport, it takes a whole TEAM to win games!! It don’t matter how good the QB is, if he don’t have a good team around him, they’re not gonna win anything!! The QBs you put down as “elite”…. Look at the teams they had around them!! Russell Wilson had the legion of boom, and we see how good he is since he lost his defense…. He can’t even stay on a team anymore!! Flacco had one of the best defensive units in football that year, Rogers had a great offensive unit and a top of the league defense for the one Super Bowl he went to, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jared Goff, Joe Burrow and Brock Purdy was no different!! Lamar Jackson wouldn’t have went near as far as he did if it wasn’t for his top defenses and great coaching, same with Jared Goff!! And Joe Burrow had a still has one of the best offensive weapons in the whole NFL along with a good defense, and anybody with a half a brain knows that Brock Purdy wouldn’t be anything if it wasn’t for his head coach!! But either way, I think I have proven my point…. All your “elite” QBs wouldn’t be elite in your eyes if it wasn’t for them having an elite “TEAM” around them!! That’s how most sports work!! You need a whole TEAM to win games!! It’s not just the QB!!
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s all the sports media groups fail to realize Dak Prescott is a decent quarterback he does well during the regular season and chocks in the playoffs and Dak Prescott can’t even beat the San Francisco 49ers Jerry Jones had to give Dak Prescott that big fat contract because if Dak Prescott would’ve left through free agency Jerry Jones wouldn’t have any options at quarterback