Dallas Cowboys should give Dak Prescott Bubble Boy Treatment

No single player is more important to the Dallas Cowboys success than Dak Prescott.

Dak Prescott must be protected at all costs. No player is more important to the Dallas Cowboys this season than their starting quarterback. That goes for just about every other NFL team as well, because in the NFL, the passing game is king.

If you need convincing of that fact, please reference this so we don’t have to rehash all the same numbers again. Sure, there are some situations where the distance between QB1 to QB2 is less than the distance from RB1 to RB2, but that’s a rarity for a team with even a glimmer of postseason hope. And it’s not the case on the Dallas Cowboys – no matter how fond you are of Andy Dalton.

The Dallas Cowboys have essentially doubled down on their passing game this season. Instead of strengthening their biggest area of weakness from last season – the defense – the Cowboys let Robert Quinn and Byron Jones walk. Replacing them was a handful of rookies, reclamation projects, over-the-hill vets, and journeymen. Sure, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is an upgrade to Jeff Heath and Gerald McCoy is an upgrade to Maliek Collins but they let’s not pretend they’re bigger than they really are.  The Dallas Cowboys are basically just trying to tread water on defense and hoping a dominant offense can get the team to and through the playoffs.

If you think about it, even the running game might have taken a step back this season. Instead of have a well-rounded TE1 who can run block and pass catch equally, the Dallas Cowboys opted to go forgo the run-blocking and go all-in on a pass-catcher at TE1.

Yes, Blake Jarwin will do more run-blocking than he did as a TE2, but he’s not going to do it as often or as effectively as Jason Witten used to. Blake was re-signed to be an explosive pass catcher at TE1. In other words, the Cowboys moved shifted the balance even further towards the passing game.

Now that you’re convinced, allow me to move to point of the story – Locking Dak Prescott into a bubble (so to speak).

There’s a good chance the 2020 NFL season will be a war of attrition and the team that keeps their most important players healthy are the ones who will come out on top. As discussed the other day, just because someone is asymptomatic doesn’t mean they can play. If someone tests positive they will be distanced from the rest of the team. And that’s not always just for two weeks, but rather for as long as they test positive. Revisit the article (below) and I’ll explain, how long someone shows positive is different for everyone and some otherwise healthy feeling people have been testing positive for nearly two months (that’s basically season-ending).  We simply have no way of knowing.

One or two positive tests could single-handedly tank an entire season

Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, the reality is the NFL isn’t going to let teams trot out players who are testing positive. Even if they have no effects, they’re on the shelf. That’s why it’s so important to insulate players above and beyond the normal precautions everyone else takes.

I’m not saying we need to stuff Dak in a hamster ball Monday thru Saturday (but I wouldn’t be against such a thing either), but I am saying when the NFL hands down the final policies and procedures for 2020 NFL season (sponsored by COVID-19), the Dallas Cowboys would be wise to go above and beyond on a team level.

Can you imagine if the 53rd man on the roster accidently infects Dak during some random Tuesday morning workout? Dallas may want to think about giving Dak the VIP treatment: private gym, private film session, distanced and disinfected practice, etc…

I say the more ridiculous the better.

While we’re at it, let’s give Andy Dalton the VP treatment. In threatening times, the Secret Service will separate the President from the Vice President. The idea is if one is if lost, you know the other is safe. Let’s never allow Andy Dalton and Dak Prescott to be in the same room or touch the same stuff. That way if one is “hit” the other isn’t as well.

So concludes my sports-starved brainstorming session.

What do you think? Do you think the Dallas Cowboys should apply special precautions to their most important players or do you think regular protocols will fine?

• Published on 07/30/2020 at 16:01 PM
• Last updated at 07/30/2020 at 14:02 PM