Only 1 NFL Quarterback Ranked Higher Than Cowboys' Dak Prescott in Vital QB Metric

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was better than every quarterback in the NFL but one in a specific metric.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was cool as a cucumber when facing pressure last season.

In fact, only one quarterback in the NFL was better under fire than Prescott, according to FTN Fantasy's DVOA vs. pressure metric.

Prescott ranked second in the NFL behind only Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford when facing pass-rush pressure in 2025, with the Cowboys signal-caller finishing with a DVOA of -39.7%.

Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, according to FTN Fantasy, "is a method of evaluating teams, units, or players" efficiency by "comparing success on every single play to a league average based on situation and opponent."

The eight quarterbacks who fell in behind Prescott from No. 3 to No. 10 were as follows: the Chicago Bears' Caleb Williams, Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, Denver Broncos' Bo Nix, Houston Texans' C.J. Stroud, Carolina Panthers' Bryce Young, New England Patriots' Drake Maye, Arizona Cardinals' Jacoby Brissett and Detroit Lions' Jared Goff.

Matthew Stafford is cool under pressure 🧊 pic.twitter.com/cJHhBH3yZk

— FTN (@FTNFantasy) June 29, 2026

Why Prescott's DVOA is more impressive than Stafford's

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Prescott's mark is made more impressive when you consider he faced a ton of pressure in 2025. The Cowboys were tied for the 10th-most pressures allowed last season. Dallas also ranked 19th in pass-block win rate.

Now compare those numbers to the Rams, who had the fifth-best pass-block win rate and were tied for the eighth-fewest pressures surrendered.

The Cowboys were particularly weak on the book ends of their line last season, as both left tackle Tyler Guyton and right tackle Terence Steele struggled.

Steele posted a Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade of 54.9, which ranked 76th out of 89 tackles that qualified, and he gave up six sacks and 52 total pressures.

Meanwhile, Guyton had a 50.0 PFF pass-blocking grade, ranking 81st, and permitted two sacks and 31 pressures while playing in just 10 games.

The struggles for Guyton and Steele are multi-year issues. Guyton struggled during his rookie campaign in 2024, also, and Steele has not played dating back to 2023. Dallas desperately needs both to improve if Presoctt is going to stay upright in 2026.

Guyton is supposed to be competing against Nate Thomas for the starting left tackle job this offseason, but it doesn't look like much of a competition because Guyton has been getting all of the first-team reps.

Steele remains unchallenged for his job, at least through minicamp, so he isn't going anywhere, either.

The Cowboys do have Thomas and 2026 fourth-round pick Drew Shelton on the roster, so there are options to replace either one should they struggle during the season.

Whether or not Thomas and/or Shelton would be better remains to be seen, though. Hopefully Steele and Guyton rebound and the Cowboys don't have to find out.