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The 11 Best Dallas Cowboys of the Past Decade (2010-2019)

By Reid Hanson

ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 10: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) Dez Bryant #88 of the Dallas Cowboys prepares to take on the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium on September 10, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 10: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) Dez Bryant #88 of the Dallas Cowboys prepares to take on the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium on September 10, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – DECEMBER 22: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys warms up before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on December 22, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

No. 8 Dak Prescott, QB

Dallas Cowboys: 2016-present

Oddly, just selecting Dak Prescott for the top-11 Dallas Cowboys of the Decade is going to upset a portion of Cowboys Nation. Putting him ahead of guys like Zeke and Sean Lee are probably going to even enrage some. I guess that comes with the territory of playing QB1 on America’s Team.

Dak’s selection here is based on two major items:

  1. The position he plays.
  2. How well he plays it

Simple enough, right? No position is more difficult or more important than that of the NFL QB. A great QB makes all the difference at this level and that’s why QBs get all the glory (or all of the blame). What Dak Prescott has been able to accomplish (both from an individual as well as team perspective) his first four years in the NFL, are nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Prescott’s rookie season was arguably one of the best rookie QB season of all-time. It wasn’t just about team success (going 13-3 and becoming the No. 1 seed in the NFC) but also individual success. Dak’s QBR and EPA/play (stats that measure quality more than quantity) were abnormally high for anyone, let alone a rookie.

Since then, all Dak’s done is deal with adversity after adversity – cratering for about eight games from 2017-2018 and bouncing back mid-way through the 2018 season. 2019 was a true coming out party for Prescott when he ranked in the top-3 in the NFL’s most respected categories throughout most of the season.

A jacked up shoulder limited his play greatly down the stretch but Dak showed he belongs to be a franchise QB in this league and may even have a league MVP in his future. He finished rated 4th in Total QBR, 3rd in EPA, 4th in completed air yards per pass attempt, and 7th in on-target percentage. Not bad for a guy who was drafted in the compensatory portion of the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, huh?

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