Who will be the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9? That's been the million-dollar question all week for America's Team leading up to their showdown with the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Rookie Ben DiNucci got the keys to the car so to speak last week vs the Philadelphia Eagles and produced a pedestrian nine points. The Cowboys decided they'd go in another direction, leaving only Cooper Rush and Garrett Gilbert as the only options. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the latter will get the start this Sunday.
The #Cowboys plan to start QB Garrett Gilbert on Sunday against the #Steelers, sources tell me and @RapSheet. Gilbert has gotten the majority of reps this week in practice. Assuming all goes well today, Gilbert starts and Cooper Rush backs him up.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 7, 2020
Gilbert was selected in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the then St. Louis Rams. He was released in August during final cuts, only to be signed back to the practice squad in September, and then released again in October. He would then be signed to the New England Patriots practice squad in December and earned a Super Bowl ring when they defeated the Seattle Seahawks.
He would spend the next several seasons on practice squads for the Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, and Carolina Panthers.
In November of 2018, Gilbert was drafted by the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football. In April of 2019, after the AAF suspended operations, Gilbert was signed to the Cleveland Browns.
In October, Gilbert was signed off of the Browns practice by the Cowboys to back up Andy Dalton after Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
Gilbert has only completed two of his six career passes in the NFL for a total of 40 yards. Now, he gets to take on the Steelers fifth-ranked defense and is doing so with an offensive line that's struggled mightily in 2020 due to injuries and playing undrafted rookies.
Will Gilbert give the Cowboys enough to pull off an upset of the Steelers? Only time will tell.
