When it comes to quarterbacks in the NFL, things aren’t always better on the other side.
The Dallas Cowboys’ most divisive player is Dak Prescott. Depending on how much of the responsibility they think he deserves for the team’s disappointing performances, fans might either love or loathe him. Regarding his perception, the eight-year veteran quarterback is all over the place. After leading the league in interceptions in 2022 and raising eyebrows across the country, he made a complete 180-degree flip around and now leads the league in touchdown passes this past season. In addition to being named an All-Pro, he was the subject of numerous discussions over his merit for this year’s Most Valuable Player title. Whoa, what a difference.
Even though he had a fantastic season the previous year, Prescott had trouble in the postseason. He appeared scared and made bad choices for the majority of the game. He had two costly picks, and the team’s first scoring drive was not completed until the first half’s clock reached double digits. The Cowboys have been eliminated from the playoffs for the third straight season due to a game in which Dak has fallen short of expectations. Not because he is to blame, but he is clearly not contributing.
After yet another heartbreaking playoff exit, uncertainty permeates the entire organization. Dak is one of the team’s most important players, but there are other coaches and players who are also being questioned. Is he truly this football team’s best player? The idea that the Cowboys gave up a fourth-round draft pick to sign former third-overall pick Trey Lance just prior to the start of the previous campaign is just adding gasoline to the fire. Even though this is merely a “let’s see what he’s got” move, they wouldn’t have taken it if they didn’t think he had a potential to develop into a reliable NFL quarterback. To be thorough in our analysis, we discussed that situation a few weeks ago.
Leaving Prescott is a dangerous thing to do. It would be much easier to do if Lance had a good sample size of strong play, just as the Cowboys had before they gave Dak the offensive reins and parted ways with Tony Romo. However, they don’t. By trading for Prescott, the franchise must assume a great deal of risk in the ability of whoever is behind door number two to fill the most essential position on the squad. The last time the Cowboys had to undergo a similar change without having a solid plan in place, things did not turn out as planned.
In order to find Troy Aikman’s replacement following his retirement, the Cowboys turned to the draft. Unfortunately, they lost the pick to Seattle in exchange for wide receiver Joey Galloway, so they were left without a first-round draft pick. With the 53rd overall pick, the Cowboys selected Quincy Carter in a poor quarterback class that featured only the top two quarterbacks (Drew Brees and Michael Vick). Jerry Jones had a great influence on Carter, who was a former Georgia quarterback who became the first-ever second-round draft pick to start at quarterback in his first season.
Jerry Jones was experimenting with several quarterback contenders in the hopes of surprising people and landing the job, therefore the Carter experiment was hit or miss. This involved tossing darts at two former baseball prospects, Chad Hutchinson and Drew Henson, the latter of whom Jones traded away a third-round draft pick to obtain, and signed former number two overall pick Ryan Leaf. The team then choose to go with a veteran, first selecting Vinny Testaverde and then selecting Drew Bledsoe, both of whom had postseason success under Bill Parcells, after each subsequent bet failed.
