Dallas Cowboys: The cure to Dak Prescott’s deep ball problems

Throughout Dallas Cowboys training camp and in the preseason, we’ve seen Dak Prescott struggle delivering the deep ball accurately and on-time, but this may be the solution to his problems…

Some Dallas Cowboys fans love to bag on Dak Prescott for his accuracy issues. They love to point out missed opportunities and how much of a mistake it was to replace Tony Romo two seasons ago. I am not one of those people. I have no interest in that kind of negativity and find majority of it unfounded and generally useless.

But the plain truth is Dak Prescott is not an accurate deep ball passer. We’ve seen it throughout training camp and even the most apologetic of Prescott supports will concede there have been far more missed opportunities than seized opportunities deep down the field.

Granted, Dak Prescott is a true gamer. He may look terrible in practice but when the lights come on he repeatedly rises to the occasion.  For instance – we saw him connect deep with rookie Michael Gallup in the first preseason game.

But if we’re all being honest, the deep ball is an issue for him. For as ahead of curve he is in other areas, he’s behind the curve here. That doesn’t mean he’s always going to be a poor deep ball passer. It just means he is right now.

The good news is we can do something about it. Simply telling him to “practice more” and “figure it out” isn’t a very fruitful strategy to deal with it. Speed is.

All about speed

When the Dallas Cowboys signed Deonte Thompson this offseason, I admit I was overcome with an uncontrollable case of, “meh”. The career journeyman had never been more than a role player and at age 29, it seemed unlikely he ever would.

But looking a bit deeper I quickly realized I was wrong in my indifference and Thompson may be exactly what Dak Prescott needs on this team. That’s because Thompson brings something no one else on this roster can – deep speed.

It’s safe to say, much like last season, opponents will be packing the box and daring Dak Prescott to beat them deep. The success of this season could very well come down to Dak’s ability to capitalize on these situations. As many of us know, Dak likes throwing to open receivers. That’s why route-running has been a focus of the season. But route running doesn’t always help on deep balls. It’s speed that gets you separation on those deep balls. And Deonte Thompson is the only guy that can offer that.

Thompson, 6’0” 205lbs, is a proven outside deep threat in the NFL. He’s not the inconsistent  role player Brice Butler was but rather a late bloomer who’s still somehow an ascending talent. His past two seasons have been his best as a pro. In fact, last season Pro Football Focus rated him the fifth best deep threat in the NFL.

Looking at his film it’s easy to see how he’s been winning. He’s not just fast but strong in technique as well. Deonte can beat off-man, press, zone, and 2-deep. It may have taken him a while to develop but he appears to be a fairly polished receiver.

Early in training camp we’ve seen him do some pretty big things as well. Not just as a deep threat but executing a full route tree. Recently we’ve seen Thompson miss a ton of time and as a result we’ve seen Dak Prescott’s deep ball struggles continue.

Without Deonte’s breakaway speed on the field, separation on the deep routes is limited. Because of this Dak often overthrows his receivers – erring on the side of caution and avoiding an unsavory turnover. With greater separation comes a bigger margin of error for Dak. And with that security, Dak’s more likely to deliver a catchable ball.

If you want to fix Dak Prescott’s deep ball problems the solution is simple – speed. And there’s no better vertical threat on this team than Deonte Thompson. Given his in injury issues in camp, it’s easy to just sign him off. But that may be a mistake…

• Published on 08/26/2018 at 17:15 PM
• Last updated at 08/26/2018 at 17:15 PM