Dallas Cowboys: Watch out for rookie quarterback Ben DiNucci

Dallas Cowboys Ben DiNucci: Positives

Choice of Accessories

Accessories might not make or break an athlete’s career, but they can be early indications of whether a player should succeed or not. DiNucci wears a long sleeve on his right arm with white high socks. The man electing to make an elite accessory choice should be recognized and commended upon.

Ball Placement

Completing 70 percent of one’s pass attempts in a season is already a fairly difficult thing to accomplish, but add in the fact that DiNucci did so averaging 9.1 yards per attempt and it highlights DiNucci’s accuracy. However, just looking at DiNucci’s numbers doesn’t do justice to his ball placement.

There are so many clips of him completing jump balls to his receivers and it has everything to do with his ball placement. Possessing a 3/4 release and good arm strength, DiNucci shows the consistent ability to put the ball into extremely tight windows where only his receivers can get their hands on the ball.

I don’t have much to analyze because even at the FCS level, these throws happen in the smallest windows imaginable. Even with DB hands trying to deflect the ball in the air, DiNucci displays an uncanny ability to put the ball exactly where he wants. The receivers are making excellent catches, but that is a product of the awesome throws from DiNucci.

The jump from FCS football to the NFL is very big, but the fact that DiNucci shows he can complete throws in the smallest windows by NFL standards holds a lot of merits.

Mobility and Pocket Presence

DiNucci is a long individual and looks like someone who would struggle to move. However, the signal-caller shows good athleticism to move in the pocket and to scamper for long gains. He ran for 1000 yards and 16 touchdowns the last two seasons averaging over 4.3 yards per carry and it’s not difficult to see why he was so successful on the ground.

However, just because a quarterback displays mobility doesn’t mean it translates into pocket maneuverability. Fortunately, DiNucci already displays good ability to recognize where pressure is coming from and knows how to elude defenders en route to a big gain or a completion.

The confidence with which he moves through the pocket while looking upfield is very encouraging because these skills and instincts can be difficult to instill in QBs throughout their early years in the league.

However, for how natural DiNucci looks playing against some of the better FCS talents in the country, there are some things that he will need to fix if he wants to thrive at the professional level.