Cowboys 1st & 10: Defined By Dak & Zeke
Cowboys 1st & 10: Dallas will Be Defined By Dak & Zeke
1) Defined By Dak
Dak Prescott, whether he’s playing or not, will define the Cowboys for the next decade.
He is probably the most written-about player with a season-ending injury (and, of course, this piece, will only help to push up the story count). But, this week, even while he continued to rehabilitate his gruesome leg injury, Prescott made the news a few times.
First, Jerry Jones told our Mike Fisher that the Cowboys will seek to limit Prescott’s reps as a runner once he returns from injury. Prescott, of course, was running when he suffered his season-ending injury.
Now, Prescott’s career as a runner isn’t, prolific. He’s only carried the ball 259 times for 1,314 yards and 24 touchdowns. Let’s compare those numbers to a few quarterbacks known for using their legs:
Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is in his third season in the NFL, has 439 carries for 2,570 yards and 16 touchdowns.
New England quarterback Cam Newton, now in his tenth season, has 1,047 carries for 5,257 yards and 69 touchdowns.
San Francisco quarterback Steve Young, who played 15 years in the NFL, carried the ball 722 times for 4,239 yards and 43 touchdowns.
Quarterback Randall Cunningham, who played 16 seasons, carried the ball 775 times for 4,928 yards and 35 touchdowns.
Part of my point here is that while it’s likely prudent for Jones to consider limiting Prescott’s carries, it’s not as if designed runs are a huge part of what he does. Prescott averages fewer than four carries per game. If one is worried about Prescott’s durability, it’s probably time to get the offensive line healthy again.
Next, there was former Cowboys defensive lineman Marcus Spears, who has carved out a nice role for himself as an analyst on ESPN. Spears suggested during an NFL Live segment that Prescott should try and dig a trench out of Dallas and move on to greener NFL pastures.
In the story, our Tomer Barazani explained why that’s unlikely.
Outside of our Cowboy Maven universe, former Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach spoke to CBS Sports and Prescott’s name came up in advance of the Army-Navy game (Staubach, of course, went to Navy). Staubach said that he’s a fan of Prescott and the way that he approaches the game.
"I hope that they get him signed and that he wants to stay here in Dallas," Staubach told CBSSports.com. "I don't know if Dak would give up leaving the Dallas Cowboys for the money at the end of the day. I'm not involved in it, I just know that they'll miss him if we don't — there's just not many quarterbacks around that have Dak's ability. And what I like is that the players really like him. He's their leader plus he's a heck of a football player. The games he played in this season he really did well. I sure hope they sign him to a long-term contract."
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adam Schefter told Get Up! that Prescott has “enormous leverage” going into negotiations with the Cowboys this offseason.
Schefter is completely on the spot about Prescott’s leverage. And how Prescott exercises that leverage has the potential to define the Cowboys for the next 10 years.
Let’s say Prescott gets to an agreement with the Cowboys on a long-term deal. If Prescott plays at the level he was playing at pre-injury, he’ll not only be worth that contract, but the one the Cowboys will give him when that contract runs out. He’ll get an extension. Ask Tony Romo and Troy Aikman how that works.
Let’s say Prescott and the Cowboys can’t work out a long-term agreement. Prescott can still sign the franchise tender and sign a long-term deal next year. But does that mean he’s back in 2022 or beyond?
Let’s say Prescott and his agent choose the nuclear scenario — I want out and I won’t play until you deal me or release me. Either the Cowboys deal Prescott to get something for him or this goes the Le’Veon Bell route, where Prescott sits out for basically a year and becomes a free agent.
Or, let’s say the Cowboys look into the future, see a cap squeeze, see the money already committed to running back Ezekiel Elliot, wide receiver Amari Cooper, defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, linebacker Jaylon Smith and others and decide they have no choice but to let Prescott go and try to make it work with another quarterback.
Like I said, if you’re defining the next decade of Cowboys football, it starts and ends with Prescott.
2) But Today ...
Cowboys at Bengals, we can argue, will be defined by Dak's running buddy.
Read Ezekiel Elliott's quotes above to understand why.
3) Check out the Cowboy Maven Top 60 All-Time Dallas Cowboys
We published our Top 60 Dallas Cowboys of all-time as part of our celebration of the Cowboys’ 60 seasons in Dallas. We presented the Top 60 in groups of five. We hope you enjoyed the series and if you have an opinion, take them to our Cowboy Maven community or hit me up on Twitter at @PostinsPostcard.
If you missed any of the stories in our Top 60, just click on them below.
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 56-60
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 51-55
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 46-50
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 41-45
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 36-40
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 31-35
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 26-30
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 21-25
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 16-20
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 11-15
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 6-10
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 1-5
4) Cowboys 'New Low'
Michael Irvin is unhappy.
➡️ Cowboys Yanked From Prime-Time TV 'A New Low,' Says Irvin
The Cowboys just "got told.''
5) The Cowboys as an Organization
One mistake is fixable.
➡️ Do 'Arrogant & Ignorant' Cowboys Admit To Major Season-Changing Coaching Error?
➡️ Jerry On Firing Himself As Cowboys GM
Another Cowboys issue seems permanent.
6) Locked On Cowboys: O-Lineman to IR; Should Zeke Sit Vs. Bengals?
The Dallas Cowboys are shutting down another erstwhile starting offensive lineman ... which causes one to wonder, all things considered, should they also shut down two-time NFL rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott?
In this episode of the "Locked On Cowboys'' podcast, hosts Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool get us ready for the Cowboys' visit in Week 14 to the Cincinnati Bengals, a bad team jousting with Dallas (another bad team) in the NFL Draft-focused "Tank-a-Thon.''
But despite the poor records, we can still muster up enough excitement to list "our five players who we are excited to watch in Week 14.''
Give Locked On Cowboys a listen here.
And, there’s more to listen to with the Cowboys Blitzcast Crew.
7) Get ready for Sunday’s game with Cincinnati
Need to prep for Sunday’s game with Cincinnati? Check out our primer below.
➡️ Cowboys Place Starting CB On COVID IR
➡️ How'd Bottom-Dweller Cowboys Rise in SI Rankings?
➡️ McCarthy Chastises Cowboys In Team Meeting For ‘Effort Problem’
Yes, effort must be there. Today. Every day.
8) An ‘Organic Tanking’ Update
Each week we will update you on the Cowboys’ 2021 NFL Draft situation, mainly to see if they can improve their stock in any way as the season winds down.
Cowboys record entering this weekend’s action: 3-9.
Current selection (if season ended today): No. 4 (source: tankathon.com/nfl)
Who is ahead of Dallas?: New York Jets (0-12), Jacksonville (1-11), Cincinnati (2-9-1).
Can Dallas catch any of those three teams? The Bengals are the one team the Cowboys can realistically catch at this point. And, wouldn’t you know it? The two teams play this Sunday. And it would be a good time for the Cowboys to engage in some ‘organic tanking.’ If the Bengals win the game, they’ll improve to 3-9-1 and have a winning percentage of .269. If the Cowboys lose, they’ll drop to 3-10 and have a winning percentage of .230. That would slide the Cowboys up one more spot in the draft due to winning percentage. Of course, that doesn’t mean the Cowboys would stay there with three more games after Sunday. But it would better position Dallas in a draft where Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields are, at this moment, expected to be the Top 2 players. The Cowboys, at No. 3, would have their pick of anything else.
Who is chasing Dallas? The Los Angeles Chargers (3-9) and the Philadelphia Eagles (3-8-1) flat out refuse to win. And that keeps them in the hunt when it comes to overtaking the Cowboys. The Chargers did, briefly, before the Cowboys lost to the Ravens on Tuesday.
Games to watch this week?: Aside from the Cowboys and the Bengals facing off, the Jaguars host the Titans and the Jets travel to the Seahawks. Behind Dallas, the Chargers have a winnable game against the Falcons in L.A., while the Eagles will start rookie Jalen Hurts against New Orleans.
If you’re a ‘tanker’… Losses from the Cowboys, Jets and Jags, and wins by the Chargers and Eagles. It’s pretty simple at this point.
Oh, and click here for my peek ahead to the 2021 NFL Draft in my First and 10 last weekend.
Plus, at least one outlet has done a first-round mock draft and has the Cowboys taking a top-flight cornerback at No. 4.
9) Updating Cowboys Draft Needs
Now that we are more than two-thirds of the way through the season, it’s time to update our 2021 Cowboys NFL Draft needs. Now, we can debate the ranking of these needs (and they’re being debated on Twitter). But looking ahead to next season, I find it hard to see any other major needs than the five I’ve included here. And needs are relative now as opposed to the draft in April, after the Cowboys have moved through free agency.
But for now, here are my Cowboys Draft Need Rankings.
I will update these at the end of the regular season.
Plus, earlier this week, our Tomer Barazani noted that ESPN had the Cowboys taking a certain Penn State linebacker in the first round of their most recent mock draft.
10) Whitt’s End: Jimmy Endorses Cowboys' McCarthy - But Nolan's Gotta Go
Regardless of what happens in December, Mike Nolan should not be back as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in 2021. Blown assignments by Leighton Vander Esch. Missed tackles by Jaylon Smith. Disappearing act by DeMarcus Lawrence. The two biggest rushing days by an opponent in franchise history. The longest rushing touchdown (37 yards by Lamar Jackson, untouched, mind you) allowed in team history.
And the bottom line: The Cowboys have coughed up 393 points, five touchdowns more than the Lions (who fired their head coach), Jets (0-12) and Jaguars (1-11).
Any scout will tell you that the Cowboys are blessed with tons more talent than those three defenses, combined.
Something's gotta change. And the answer is obvious. McCarthy has spent this week overusing the word "accountable.'' But if Nolan keeps his job? McCarthy won't be able to be taken seriously.
BONUS - Tweet Of The Week
I thought we were done with Elf on a Shelf?
