Dallas Cowboys |
Height: 6-2 Weight:
238 Age: 24
Born: 7/29/1993 Sulphur, LA
College: Mississippi State
Experience: 3rd season
High School: Haughton HS [LA]
The Perception:
As the
Dallas Cowboys enter their third season with Dak Prescott under center, expectations
have risen amidst the turnover in rostered players specifically wide receivers
that will be catching balls form the former Mississippi State pivot. Thus far
Prescott has enjoyed both great success and enigmatic play based on the team’s
surroundings and individual player situations providing a skewed template of
how to accurately evaluate the young talented quarterback.
Since Dallas
selected Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft, we’ve all
witnessed the progression in Dak’s game while observing some form of regression
last season as Prescott was forced to put the team on his back without their
star running back Zeke Elliott providing pressure relief during his suspension.
While Prescott enjoyed a rookie season for the ages proving his naysayers wrong,
who regarded him as talented but not a difference maker in NFL scouting circles
being compared to the likes of the Packers Brent Hundley, Dak appeared to have
elite level talent in his first season. Prescott flirted with a completion
percentage nearing 70% as the season concluded and held an interception rate
that would rival the best in the business of 0.9% throwing to opposing teams,
very impressive to say the least. Dak’s fantastic play elevated the Cowboys to
eventually win the NFC East with a 13-3 record, only to lose in the divisional
round to Green Bay, though providing gleaming perceptions for the future for this
storied franchise.
As Dallas
entered the 2017 season, the fear of derailment began early as the suspected off-field
indiscretions from their star runner were placed in the public eye. As legal proceedings
from the NFL office commenced, the situation jumped like a yo-yo providing no
conclusion to the matter as the season began. Feeling the effects of
distraction, the Cowboys and Dak Prescott carried on in hopes to pile up wins
before the hammer would eventually come down on Zeke Elliott and the potential
outlook for the 2017 season. When all was said and done, Dallas finished the
season with a 9-7 record falling far from grace of the 2016 campaign, seeing
Prescott’s numbers taking a hit in some of the most important areas. Dak lost
nearly 5% points on his overall completion percentage while seeing a sharp
increase in his interception rate percentage gaining 1.8% over the course of
the year, not great. Either way, all the blame can’t be placed on Prescott’s
shoulders as he did his best to keep the ship afloat during turbulent times. Most
evaluators subscribe to the notion that it’s a wait-and-see type of situation
for the Cowboys and Dak Prescott for this upcoming season providing an uneven
perception for the third year pro.
The Reality:
As the offseason
has advanced, ADF has been up and down in terms of how to appropriately
understand and evaluate what type of player Dak Prescott really is. There’s no
question Dak possesses great skill and talent being one of the better multi-purpose
quarterbacks having the ability to both run and throw with great success. When
reviewing the supporting cast that was on the Cowboys roster, (and by that we
mean the recently departed Dez Bryant), many positives actually come from his release
when we dove deeper into this new roster. Having a true number one receiver is
a great positive for any club don’t get me wrong, but having large money tied
up in one player while not providing plausible supportive players actually
turns negative rather quickly. While some may argue Dez has lost a step
resulting in lower numbers for Prescott, we’ll actually make the argument that
Dallas stood still far too long in providing adequate depth at the position
resulting in lower production.
Moving
forward without Bryant on the roster, the Cowboys were able to hedge their bets
signing a multitude of talented receivers allowing this Dallas offense to
become more dynamic and diverse in the process. While it’s clear no true number
one receiving threat exists as of today, the combination assembled has the
ability to recreate high end numbers if the game plans come to fruition.
Signing Allen Hurns and Deonte Thomson provide sound depth with the potential
for solid production giving Dak a couple more options on the field. Adding to
that, perhaps one of the most intriguing additions occurred when Jerry Jones orchestrated
a deal with the Rams to bring underachieving, underutilized gadget player Tavon
Austin to Big-D. Tavon should provide a much needed breath of fresh air to this
offensive unit as we scramble to find a player of his skillset being employed in
the slot for the Cowboys in recent history. The potential for creating
mismatches with Tavon in the slot or coming out of the backfield should allow
Prescott to open up new facets to his game having an electric check down
option. We find ourselves extremely excited for the potential big plays Austin
could bring to this offense. In continuing with the positives, adding future potential
all-star in Michael Gallup via the 2018 NFL draft, rounds out a unit that could
allow Prescott to see new career highs in the process, lots of upside in the aggregate
for this Cowboys and their franchise quarterback.
The Outlook:
It became extremely
clear last season that Coach Garrett built the offense around the run game (obviously
with a player like Elliott) limiting the natural progression of Prescott which
hid his inadequacies providing great success in his rookie season. As opposing defenses
gained more film to study, it was noticeable that Dak had moments of lapse
trying to figure out certain schemes without Zeke supporting the bulk of the
workload. While it’s easy to suggest Dak isn’t as talented as one would’ve thought,
we feel the 2017 season will become an anomaly even if Prescott turns into a
system quarterback relying on a sound run attack to set up the pass game.
Prescott is a very intelligent player that should have no problem learning from
last season and elevating his game to new heights to the joy of the Cowboy faithful.
Even as the Cowboys recreated the receiving core in hopes to produce more
without Bryant, the outlook on paper has us believing the notion. The NFC East
will become a great challenge in 2018 with all squads looking to have improved;
Dak will be forced to show his best on a weekly basis which we believe should
transpire.
From the
fantasy football perceptive, Prescott had his weeks of success followed by
great failure leaving his owners frustrated and looking for another option last
season. With that said, Dak finished the year ranked as the 10th
best quarterback just behind the great Drew Brees scoring a healthy 260.8 fantasy points, good
enough to average 16.3 points
per game. While the average looks good, it was the contests with multiple
interceptions on two and three game losing streaks that left fantasy players searching
for other options. As the fantasy community gears up for upcoming drafts,
Prescott holds very solid value in terms of where he could be snagged with an
ADP (Average Draft Position) hovering around 120 to 130 overall. Having the
potential in securing a top ten producing quarterback (or higher) while
selecting him in the tenth or eleventh rounds, provides owners the ability to
stack their team in other areas raising totals if Dak falters on any given
week. ADF does see a celling higher than his rookie campaign where 4000 yards
passing isn’t out of the question. Dak Prescott screams value for the 2018
season with potential to become a very high return on investment.
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