Dallas Cowboys: 5 Small-school draft prospects you need to know
The Dallas Cowboys found Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware in a lesser-known program (Troy University). Jerry Rice, Michael Strahan, Shannon Sharpe and Kurt Warner. All went to smaller universities, and all have found their way to the Hall of Fame.
More recently, the NFL has the likes of Josh Allen, Shaquille “Darius” Leonard and Dallas Goedert who have had successful and impactful careers, and attended smaller, lesser-known schools like University of Wyoming, South Carolina State and South Dakota State, respectively.
Will McClay and his scouting department have worked all year scouting players across the country. Most fans are familiar with the popular prospects who used their collegiate eligibility at the likes of Georgia, Alabama and Michigan type schools. To me, the shock effect kicks in when you’re watching the draft and the Commissioner calls a prospect name that you’ve never heard before. The cherry on the top is the undrafted free agents that get the nod after the draft is concluded.
We look at five small-school draft prospects who the Dallas Cowboys have to consider in the 2023 NFL draft
Personally, I want to indulge myself into more of these player profiles and how they would fit into the Dallas Cowboys culture and scheme. I’ve narrowed down my search to five players who played at the smaller programs but are still realistic prospects for Dallas (drafted or undrafted). There’s no cheating in this article. I won’t list anyone I’ve listed in any past articles.
The Dallas Cowboys will do the due diligence and we, as fans, will do ours as well.
Chase Brice
Question – do you remember the name Chase Brice? I guess the better question is – do the Dallas Cowboys remember Chase Brice? Seems like it was an eternity ago when he was the backup to Trevor Lawrence at Clemson. He moved around more than some would have expected. He transferred first to Duke and then eventually found a final destination at App State.
This kid was pretty heavily recruited coming out of high school in Georgia. Who could really blame him for losing his spot to the eventual 2021 number overall draft pick.
Brice is a quarterback with NFL size (6’2″ 230lbs) and with some good tools. His accuracy is decent, and the arm strength is enough to get the job done. He’s not a statuesque type of quarterback but you wouldn’t confuse him with a Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson by any means. He may be the most under-the-radar quarterback in this draft. Watching him against UNC last season, he looked very pro ready. He was placing the ball in tight windows and dropping dimes in the back of the endzone.
He has an upgraded version of Cooper Rush written all over him. While we’re being honest, Dallas has been down this road before with Ben Dinucci. I think there is more upside with this player than the Noch. Dallas wants their quarterbacks getting the ball out quick and making the right reads. I believe this kid could do that and some. Not to mention, he would be a cheaper long-term option than Cooper will be.
The Cowboys probably could wait and offer him a practice squad spot if he wanted it. He was recently drafted by the USFL so that may be more enticing to him than being a part of the “blue” team for Dallas. After a solid final season at Appalachian State, he was invited to the East-West Shrine Bowl. You’ll see the video below where he was showing some of his arm talent.
https://twitter.com/ShrineBowl/status/1620779719141761025?t=WW0cJXCuCe41N430vSA1OA&s=03
If the Dallas Cowboys find themselves on the outside looking in at some of the popular named quarterbacks, it may not be the worst idea in the world to circle back to Mr. Chase Brice.