In a way, this is the year of Dak Prescott. For the first time since he came to the Dallas Cowboys, there is no safety net backing him up. Cooper Rush no longer plays for America's Team. He chose to be Lamar Jackson's backup on the Baltimore Ravens. While Prescott is being paid like a franchise quarterback, he has not done enough winning in the postseason to merit what his bank account says.
Even more concerning, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer mentioned that Dallas was one of three places former Texas star quarterback Quinn Ewers has lined up for a top-30 visit. Breer mentioned Dallas, the Indianapolis Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders extending top-30s to Ewers. He also said that he is meeting with the New York Jets on Monday and the New Orleans Saints on Monday night.
Although Ewers is no longer a first-round prospect, he does have a cannon and played in a ton of big games in college football's most ferocious conference. While he did not quarterback the Longhorns to an SEC Championship, he did lead them to the College Football Playoff in back-to-back seasons. Injuries aside, I remain bullish on what Ewers can do at the next level because I have seen him play.
As for Prescott, he is going to have to earn it playing for his new head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
Dak Prescott can't love Quinn Ewers getting a top-30 visit from Cowboys
For as much of a success as Prescott has been quarterbacking the Cowboys for nearly a decade now, it should be noted that this former fourth-round pick out of Mississippi State replaced a former undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois by the name of Tony Romo. While both were incredible college players at the level, the same principle applies to Ewers coming out of Texas this offseason.
What I am getting at is we have kind of been there, done that with this current iteration of Prescott. He has had plenty of star players around him, but he has not gotten the Cowboys even close to an NFC Championship Game to date. Not to say that Ewers is going to do that, but we have seen the Cowboys be more beholden to if a guy can play, as opposed to what his draft status was coming out.
To tie a bow on this, I would expect for Dallas' first draft under Schottenheimer to look a bit more heavy-handed than it was in the latter part of the Mike McCarthy era. Jerry Jones may have promoted him from within for control purposes, but I would not be shocked if Schottenheimer had more of a say in who Dallas picks this spring than what McCarthy did in the last few offseasons.
For now, the allure of Ewers could either add a fire to Prescott's game or douse his flame entirely.