Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott is a franchise quarterback

The Dallas Cowboys have finally found their franchise quarterback in Dak Prescott. He will be up for an extension over the course of the next two seasons.

The Dallas Cowboys have entrusted their franchise to Dak Prescott and that has only become more evident during the 2018 offseason. The term “Dak friendly” has been bandied around as if it is a necessity however realistically this offense is just Cowboy friendly.

Everyone in the offense is set up to excel at the specific things that they are good at. Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott saw the offensive line improve, and this receiving corps is going through a dramatic overhaul all in an effort to make this offense more explosive. This is largely because of how explosive Prescott can be when he has the time to make correct reads and execute plays.

But what makes Dak a special player?

Well to start, he has a 22-9 record as a starter, something most rookie quarterbacks can only dream about. He is basically a miracle, as he was drafted in the fourth round and the statistics for the success of those players typically aren’t very good.

2.6 percent of quarterbacks selected since 2000 (from rounds three-seven) have turned out to be franchise signal callers for their respective organizations. Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, and yes, Dak Prescott are the four players who have found success while 150 of their counterparts at the quarterback position have failed.

Prescott has a career quarterback rating of 95.5 and a completion percentage of 65.2. His touchdown to interception ratio is 45-17 and so far he has not missed a game due to injury. That is pretty impressive considering the strength of competition at the NFL level.

Prescott also has a higher win percentage, completion percentage, passer rating, and touchdown to interception ratio than Cam Newton, Joe Flacco, and Matt Stafford, all franchise quarterbacks. Prescott even has more rushing touchdowns than Newton since he entered the league.

Now I know what you are saying, those quarterbacks have been in the league longer so they have thrown more interceptions. That may be true but as it stands Dak has better stats (specifically winning percentage) than Super Bowl champion, Carson Wentz, Shocking right.

A lot of this talk was brought on by the fact that Prescott will be looking at a new contract either in 2019 or the season after that. Currently, Prescott makes less than Trevor Siemian, Matt Cassel, Colt McCoy, and Ryan Fitzpatrick, so he will be due for a rather large extension.

Considering Matt Ryan just signed a five year, $150 million contract, Prescott will likely get close to that $30 million per season mark. Now these are crazy numbers (I know) however the NFL is just adjusting to its own success, as the league makes more money, the players will as well.

Quarterback is the money position in the NFL and we have seen it countless times with players of a much lesser caliber than Prescott. Sam Bradford has made over $100 million over the course of his career and he has not accomplished anything, let alone has been as impressive as Prescott.

So far, we have covered that Dak based off of his ability alone is well worth this cost if not more. We have not even touched on his maturity or respect for the game. The fact that the Dallas Cowboys locker room is now led by number 4 is also a huge part of the equation.

More from Dallas Cowboys

Players and members of the front office believe in this guy to a degree we have not seen since the likes of Troy Aikman. With Dak you know he will either be working out, studying the playbook or opposing teams or helping the community so you could not ask for a higher character guy.

Fans and analysts alike have had some harsh words for Prescott after he struggled a bit towards the end of the 2017 season. In reality, he lost the best left tackle in football to injury (Tyron Smith) and the best running back in (Ezekiel Elliott) to suspension. You cannot get past that.

Even Aaron Rodgers struggles mightily when his offensive line cannot protect him, how can you expect Dak to do any better. While there could be a myriad of reasons why some fans are a bit critical of the third year star, none of them seem to make any sense. He is better than most quarterbacks in the league when the offense is running correctly, he does not get in trouble and sets a standard in the Cowboys locker room.

If you think Prescott is not a franchise quarterback, then you don’t know football plain and simple. Dak says he wants to be the best quarterback in Dallas Cowboy history, based off of who he is as a player and the numbers he produces, he may not be far off from reaching that goal.

Next: Dallas Cowboys: Will Terrance Williams be cut

Only time will tell just how much better he can get.

Home/Dallas Cowboys