Cowboys Draft Profile: Dak Prescott
Cowboys 4th-round pick:
Mississippi State Quarterback Dak Prescott
6-foot-2, 225 LBS
In the fourth-round of the 2016 NFL Draft, the Cowboys selected Mississippi State Quarterback Dak Prescott. Prescott had a very successful college career but he does not have the prototypical size of an NFL QB. He wasn’t considered on-par with some of the other quarterbacks in the draft, but nobody questions whether he has NFL ability.
The Cowboys learned the hard way last season the importance of having a good backup quarterback. After Romo went down with yet another collarbone injury, the team looked lost on their way to a disappointing 4-12 finish. Romo still has a few good seasons left, so it didn’t make a great deal of sense to take a QB in the first-round of the draft.
After Jared Goff and Carson Wentz were drafted first and second respectively, taking Paxton Lynch with the fourth-overall pick would have seemed like quite a reach. Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg went in the middle of the second-round to the New York Jets. Some thought the team should have gone after Michigan State’s Connor Cook once he fell all the way to the fourth-round.
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Who knows what the Cowboys would have done if both Cook and Prescott were on the board, but Oakland grabbed Cook at the beginning of fourth, so they didn’t have to make that choice. You have to believe the Cowboys weren’t all that high on Cook to pass him over for Jaylon Smith and Maliek Collins.
Prescott is no polished product, but he’s got loads of potential. He has a thick frame like Russel Wilson, or Donovan McNabb, good arm strength and mobility in the pocket. He has a pretty throwing motion, but scouts say he needs to be more aggressive and take more shots down the field.
Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan has worked with several young quarterbacks, including the Cowboys’ Kellen Moore, a former undrafted free agent. Linehan likes to attack, so Prescott will have to learn to be a little bit more aggressive. One of the reasons he was fairly conservative was because of Mississippi State’s poor offensive line play. As we all know, Dallas has one of, if not the best offensive line in the league.
Prescott has a long way to go before he is ready to take the mantle from Romo. Fortunately for him, the Cowboys won’t be asking him to do much for a few seasons, as long as Romo can stay healthy. If Romo does go down again, at least they won’t be forced to play journeymen Matt Cassel and Brandon Weeden. Prescott is a solid backup, with a chance to be something special in a few seasons. Check out Prescott’s college highlights below.
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