With a new-look offense that is likely going to be catered to him, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott shouldn’t have any excuses in 2018.
When Dak Prescott was thrust into the starting quarterback job as a fourth-round rookie for the Dallas Cowboys in 2016, there’s no arguing that he found himself in a near ideal situation. He was playing behind one of the best offensive lines in football, had the No. 4 overall pick in his class, Ezekiel Elliott, carrying the offense at running back, and a talented receiving corps around him.
The rest is history for the Mississippi State product as he led the Cowboys to a terrific season, albeit one without a postseason victory. Even still, Prescott had seemingly established himself as the future at the position — a feeling cemented when Tony Romo retired in 2017.
However, Prescott had a sophomore slump of sorts in the 2017 season as things certainly didn’t go as ideally as he’d hoped. His interception rate skyrocketed (by comparison) to his rookie season and the offense didn’t operate nearly as smoothly as the previous year. Of course, the situation changed drastically with injuries on the O-line, the struggles and suspension of Elliott and the struggles of Dez Bryant as well.
This offseason, however, the Cowboys front office clearly made an effort to put an offense in place better-suited to Prescott. That, of course, included cutting Dez Bryant and drafting guys like Michael Gallup and Cedrick Wilson. The retirement of Jason Witten may have been an unwelcome wrinkle, but still, the offense is now full of players that cate to what Dak does best as a passer — which isn’t the 50-50 ball that Bryant excelled at.
Additionally, Elliott will be back and, barring unforeseen circumstances, will be around for the entirety of the 2018 season. And, even better, the second round draft selection of Connor Williams should only strengthen the offensive line, which is also healthy.
All of this obviously puts Prescott, once again, in a position where he’s going to be set up to succeed. In the same vein, however, that means that the pressure is going to be dialed up on the Cowboys quarterback.
The truth of the matter is that, despite back-to-back winning seasons as the starter to begin his career, not everyone is sold on the idea of Dak as a franchise quarterback. Whether that’s fair or not is irrelevant, it’s just the facts. Thus, the new-look offense that now has personnel and assumedly a scheme that is better tailored to him leaves him with few excuses. If he fails, the blame will more squarely be placed on him.
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You could certainly argue that Prescott has already proved himself worthy to be the guy in Dallas — I happen to be of that belief, for what it’s worth. However, this is America’s team where you’re always under the microscope, especially when you’re the quarterback. Thus, how this team has been constructed around Prescott this offseason should allow him to succeed further, but also puts a bit more pressure on his shoulders.