Backup QB battle: Who survives to start the season?

Call it an interesting season to come for the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback room. Dak Prescott will be the starter, barring injury, but the question of how much longer that remains true after this season remains unanswered – so far.

And, whether he gets an extension this season or hits free agency after it concludes remains to be seen.

Which, as far as the quarterback room is concerned, leaves one area of interest as training camp opens next week.

Which backup QB gets benched, and which gets cut?

For Cooper Rush and Trey Lance, that’s the most important answer in their respective careers so far.

For the purposes of this post, we’ll assume Prescott remains the starter, at least for the 2024 season, and go from there.

Without a doubt, the battle for QB2 over the next several weeks in Oxnard will be the most watched, at least among non-starters.

Cooper Rush Has The Resume

Rush has been on the Cowboys’ roster since 2017, except for the 2020 season. So he’s a well-known entity in Dallas. In six seasons, he has 26 games played to his credit — six of them as the starter in relief of an injured Prescott.

He’s thrown for 1,619 yards and eight touchdowns with a 60.6% completion percentage.

He does have five interceptions. However, three of them came in the 2022 road loss to the Eagles.

In that game, for whatever reason, instead of letting him be a ball-controller and game-manager, Kellen Moore, tried to make Rush the next Dan Marino. It was his worst game in what turned out to be his final start. It also resulted in his only loss in his six starts.

Before that, he had won all five of his starts, beginning with a clutch win in Minnesota in 2021. Rush finished the game 24-of-40 for 325 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

With 51 seconds left on the clock, Cooper Rush capped a 10-play, 65-yard drive with a five-yard pass to Amari Cooper. It gave the Cowboys a 20-16 victory with Prescott sidelined for the entire game. It also moved Dallas to 6-1 on the season.

In 2022, after Dak Prescott was knocked out with a thumb injury in a season-opening loss, Rush again answered the call.

He led the Cowboys to four-straight victories, keeping their season alive.

Even despite the loss to the Eagles, he handed Prescott a 4-2 record upon his return. It could have easily been 0-6 without Rush’s efforts. Rush has shown he can get it done.

So he should be a lock for QB2 in 2024, right? As Lee Corso would say, “not so fast, my friend.”

Trey Lance’s Last Stand

The Cowboys traded a fourth round pick to the 49ers last year to land Lance. The same player the 49ers had traded three picks for to take him in the first round in 2021.

Lance’s injury history, and San Francisco finding a diamond in the rough in the following year’s draft, doomed his time out west. The North Dakota State alum played in just eight games during his two years with the 49ers.

He did not see any action for Dallas in 2023.

His stats are… unimpressive.

He’s attempted just 102 passes, completing 56 for a 54.9% completion rating and 797 yards. He has just five touchdowns against three interceptions.

He was a running quarterback for the Bison and, when healthy, showed his legs in San Francisco. In 54 carries, he had 235 yards and one touchdown.

Those aren’t enough of a sample to get a true measure of what Lance can do. Still, Dallas has invested a draft pick in him. They need to kick the tires on him and at least see what they’ve got.

Thus, the battle of the backups is set to begin.

How It Will Play Out

Again, as with yesterday’s post on another North Dakota State kid on the Cowboys’ roster, I freely admit my bias toward Bison Boys. So, that being said, I’m rooting for Lance to be the QB2 when the season begins in September.

Lance and Rush will make that determination, though, not me.

If the past is repeated, Dak Prescott will not see much action in the preseason beyond maybe one quarter of work.

The coaches will get a good look at all three during training camp, of course, but Lance’s best chance to send Rush packing will be those three preseason games.

If he can outshine Rush on the field, against live opposition filled with players fighting for their own careers, he could be QB2 when the dust settles.

If Prescott isn’t signed to an extension and is allowed to head off into free agency? Trey Lance could even be QB1 in 2025.

That makes the backup quarterback battle in Oxnard the one to watch.