If Tony Romo is available week eight, who is the starting quarterback?
In a room full of Dallas Cowboys fans yesterday, I heard this question arise and spark intense discussion. The casual fan seemed to be convinced Dak Prescott should not hand over the job. Then, the Romo supporters weighed in.
As Prescott has stated, this is still Romo’s team. I tend to agree.
In the coming weeks, I fully expect to hear all sides of the argument. A lot of it, of course, depends on the record of the team over the course of the next four games. With Chicago, San Francisco, Cincinnati, and then Green Bay on the schedule, a record of 3-3 is realistic. 4-2 is optimistic.
If the team is in fact 5-1, and Prescott is continuing to develop and improve, then a conversation can be had. But overall, it depends on the play of Prescott.
He has executed the team’s game plan thus far this season. Limit mistakes, manage the game, and throw to the right guy. But as a rookie, his potential still seems slightly bottled up. Until he displays some consistent production on passes over 20 yards, I’m convinced Tony Romo is still the better option.
Not to say that it won’t come in due time however.
Either way, this story line will dominate headlines in the coming weeks. Proponents of Prescott will say he has done enough to keep rolling with him. Others will say there is no sense in disrupting team chemistry and stunting his growth by going with the injury prone Romo.
Besides the outside noise this quarterback “controversy” will bring, this is actually a good problem to have. I see no damage in going back to Romo. Sure he’ll be rusty at first, but he is still the better option. Tony Romo can stretch the field and help open up the run. He can make plays and throws that only a select number of starters can make in this league.
I also don’t buy the chemistry argument. Romo has played for years with everyone on this offense, minus some of the running backs. Also, if Dak Prescott came in week one on short notice and looked poised, who’s to say he won’t if Romo gets hurt again.
If he gets injured again, the team goes back to the rookie, who has shown poise and promise. No harm, no foul. I don’t buy into this hurting the team in any way, even though I suspect many will suggest otherwise. Tony Romo deserves another shot, knowing all too well, this could be his last.
For the first time in the decade plus Romo era, Dallas finally has something here in Prescott. Instead of putting a negative spin on things, fans need to just be happy with the situation and realize just how nice it is to be in this spot. It is officially a good problem to have.
This is Tony Romo’s team, but Dak Prescott knows it can be his too.
If Romo goes down again, I’ll cringe, yell, and feel horrible for a guy who just doesn’t want to hang it up. But I won’t mope. Instead, I’ll get right back up and cheer for Prescott.
Dude you make no sense. If the coaches would let dak have plays that the receivers deeper then 20 yards you wouldn’t even have an article to write. I’m a big fan of Romo but Romo is nothing more then a back up anymore…
I have no clue why anyone believes that Romo is going to stay healthy for an extended period ever again. He will be hurt within 3 weeks of a return. I have 0 faith in his health. He has broken bones in 3 of his last 6 appearances. He’s 36 with a surgically repaired back. Physically he does not have it anymore. How many more times do people need to see this guy scraped off the field before they accept it? He can’t take hits anymore!
I also don’t believe lack of deep throws is the reason Romo should get the job back. Romo has never been good at throwing deep. It’s never been his strength. That throw Prescott made to Butler in the Dolphins preseason game (63 yards in the air) Romo couldn’t make that throw. The reason Dak isn’t throwing downfield more is because the conservative coaching staff won’t allow him to. It’s not because he can’t.
Rick, thanks for the comment. I just think Romo deserves one last shot at this thing. Maybe, just maybe, playing in 10 games instead of 16 actually keeps him on the field. He at least deserves one last shot at this, and it’s not like he doesn’t still give the team the best chance to win when he’s in. If you disagree with that, then that’s a whole other discussion in itself.
I didn’t want to get into a detailed comparison between the two quarterbacks here, and it was my mistake to only include Prescott not stretching the field more as an example, because it seemed to come off to some readers that that was the only reason I would choose Romo over him at the moment. It’s not.
Overall, I just wanted to illustrate here that this whole “QB Controversy” that the media will try and play up in the coming weeks/months is nothing but noise and that this is actually a good problem to have for the team. Prescott has handled himself so well with everything thus far, that sitting behind Romo, whether that be for the remainder of the season or 3 weeks as you wrote above, isn’t detrimental to him or the team.
I would just expect him to step right back in and perform, like he has all preseason/season thus far.
Romo can’t be the backup QB. As soon as he comes ion, he’ll get hurt and we have to go right to the
number 3. Romo has to start and use Dak as number 2. Dak should be able to last the 8-11 games till Romo returns after Romo gets hurt. Romo could be number 1 or 3 but not 2.