For the last 16 seasons, the Cowboys have been lucky enough to have consistency at QB. It was Tony Romo from 2006 to 2015, now Dak Prescott has taken over the reins.
It’s important to recognize how impressive of a feat that is because some teams just haven’t been able to find the right signal caller, and when you don’t have a good QB it tends to spoil the entire offense.
Since 2006, only five Cowboys QBs have led the team in passing on a season-by-season basis. Here are teams that rank significantly worse than Dallas in that statistic:
- Cleveland Browns: 11
- Denver Broncos: 10
- Minnesota Vikings: 10
- Arizona Cardinals: 9
- San Francisco 49ers: 9
- Washington Redskins/Football Team: 9
- New York Jets: 8
- Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders: 8
- Tennessee Titans: 8
But the craziest part of the Cowboys run of consistency at QB is how little capital they had to give up to acquire Romo and Prescott.
Cowboys have an eye for QB prospects
Romo went undrafted in 2004 before Dallas signed him out of Eastern Illinois, which was an NCAA Division I-AA at the time. To many NFL scouts, the lower-level competition devalued Romo’s 7,816 passing yards, 82 touchdowns and 62.8 completion percentage from his three seasons as a starter.
You could even say Dallas underestimated Romo, considering they didn’t use a draft pick on him. Another team could’ve very easily signed Romo as an undrafted free agent and he likely would’ve been successful elsewhere.
Prescott, on the other hand, had slightly more buzz coming out of Mississippi State but still no early-round potential. Seven QBs were drafted ahead of Prescott in the 2016 NFL Draft.
The Cowboys have even admitted to having these four QBs ranked before Prescott during the draft process: Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Paxton Lynch and Connor Cook. Lynch hasn’t played in the NFL since 2017, and Cook was cut from the Radiers before the 2018 season. He bounced around some practice squads after, but his only game action came in 2016.
Many doubted Prescott because of the spread offense he played in at Mississippi State, and they thought it covered some blemishes in Prescott’s game. He also had a reputation for partying and was even arrested for DUI 46 days before the draft.
But Prescott, too, has made a lot of team’s pay for passing on him in the draft. He was the Offensive Rookie of the Year and has made two Pro Bowls in six seasons. In that time, he’s also thrown for 22,083 yards and 143 touchdowns, ranking fourth and fifth in Cowboys history, respectively.
So let this serve as a reminder to Cowboys fans to appreciate how good you’ve had it when it comes to QB play over the past 16 seasons. For some teams, it’s been a revolving door of new players under center every season.
Cleveland has especially been bad at scouting QBs. They’re not even sure who will be lining up under center for them this season and their training camp begins July 27th. So just remember, it could always be worse.
