Cowboys Lift DiNucci to Backup QB, Will Add Garrett Gilbert
FRISCO - In the wake of Dak Prescott's season-ending injury, Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday afternoon that the team will "definitely" add a third quarterback to the roster to play behind new starter Andy Dalton and rookie Ben DiNucci, who will be elevated from the No. 3 slot - which hasn't yet allowed him to dress for an NFL game yet - to the backup role.
Prescott's situation is an unfortunate one; he's out for the year after undergoing Sunday surgery to repair a serious ankle injury sustained in Sunday's win over the Giants.
Dalton's situation is a known one: He's got a decade-long resume as an NFL starting QB, the TCU product having helped the Bengals to a trio of playoff appearances.
DiNucci, the Cowboys' new rookie quarterback, represents the unknown - and that unknown, as highly-thought-of as he is by McCarthy, the coach who oversaw the selection of him in the recent draft, is one reason the Cowboys search is on for help.
Coach McCarthy's Cowboys made DiNucci, the James Madison quarterback, their seventh-round choice with pick No. 231. The two have ties; Mike's brother coached DiNucci's brother back in Pittsburgh. And DiNucci's coach at James Madison is Curt Cignetti. Cignetti’s brother Frank is the offensive coordinator at Boston College.
And Frank Cignetti and Mike McCarthy were grad assistants at Pitt in 1989 and then coached together in with the New Orleans Saints 2000 and 2001) and then in Green Bay is significant.
None of that is enough to hand the important No. 2 job to the 6-3, 209-pound DiNucci without some further research. In college, he was the Offensive Player of the Year in his conference. This summer, COO Stephen Jones said, "Certainly no one is saying he is (the next Tony Romo), but if you remember, (Romo) was a college free agent. (DiNucci) has some of those type of tools, instinctive and seems to make plays." And McCarthy has compared him to former NFL QB Marc Bulger.
READ MORE: Cowboys Contracts: Injured 'Dak Is Our Future'
READ MORE: Dak To Dalton: What's Next For Cowboys?
Is there a young kid Dallas will bring in to play behind Dalton and DiNucci? There is: Garrett Gilbert is being plucked off the Cleveland practice squad and is heading back to Texas, where he played both at the University of Texas and SMU.
The Cowboys are doing that research right now, fully comfortable with Dalton in charge ... and wondering what to do if he were to go down.
“That,'' McCarthy said, "is a process we’ll continue to work on.”
