Devastating Dak Prescott injury update makes Trey Lance decision painfully obvious

The Dallas Cowboys got the worst possible news on Dak Prescott's injury. After seeking multiple opinions, the quarterback will be out for the remained of the 2024 season due to a partially torn hamstring for which he will undergo surgery, as reported by ESPN insider Adam Schefter.

This had been a possibility throughout the week in the wake of Prescott going down in the team's Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The quarterback was seeking separate medical opinions about what his options were regarding the hamstring injury. And while that process appears to be continuing as he sees a specialist, his season is now officially over.

As of now, longtime backup Cooper Rush is set to start in Week 10 against the rival Philadelphia Eagles and, by proxy, is slotted in as the Cowboys starter for the rest of the season. That, however, would be a mistake given that Dallas also has Trey Lance in the quarterback room.

Cowboys should turn to Trey Lance with Dak Prescott out for season

To this point, the Cowboys trading a fourth-round pick for Lance last season has looked asinine. He's not been the primary backup, he's not been active on the 53-man gameday roster, and his preseason work left a lot to be desired. And yet, the most obvious decision for him and Dallas is for him to be the starter.

With all due respect to Rush, who has been 5-1 as a starter in his career with Dallas when forced into action, what do the Cowboys gain by inserting him into the lineup? The team is 3-5 on the season and was showing all kinds of cause for concern with Prescott under center. That's only going to get worse with a backup in the fold, no matter who it is.

When it comes to Lance, however, he remains an almost wholly unknown commodity. Since he was drafted third overall by the 49ers, the book on the North Dakota State product has been that he simply needs reps to develop into the player that San Francisco thought he could be when they selected him inside the Top 5. This is the best opportunity yet to get him those reps.

Some of the pushback on playing Lance right now might be the fact that he's a free agent after this season and, as such, the Cowboys conceivably might not gain anything from playing him. That, however, is short-sighted. If he were to come in and make strides, he could again be an option to bring back and potentially be a much higher-upside backup that Rush to Prescott in the next year or two.

More likely than that, if Lance succeeds when given the opportunity, that's only going to increase his value on the free agent market which, in turn, could give the Cowboys a more valuable compensatory draft pick if he signed with another team. That might actually be the best possible outcome for Dallas given their need for young talent and while already being committed long-term to Prescott.

None of those benefits, however, emerge if Rush is the starter over Lance with Prescott sidelined. It's an obvious choice for what the Cowboys should do now, even if it's just beyond Week 10 as Rush has been preparing to play against Philly.