Dak Prescott

Dak Prescott -- not Ezekiel Elliott -- has been the Cowboys' best rookie

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:14 p.m. ET

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Cameron DaSilva

Back in April, the Dallas Cowboys snagged a running back by the name of Ezekiel Elliott in the first round of the draft to hopefully help keep Tony Romo healthy. Elliott was expected to take pressure off of Romo, protect him on passing plays and allow the defense to rest on the sideline – essentially helping in several aspects of the game.

That plan became even more crucial when Romo went down with a back injury, only it wouldn’t be No. 9 he was protecting and taking pressure off of. The Cowboys were hoping he’d do that for fourth-round rookie Dak Prescott – Romo’s replacement.

That’s hardly been the case through two weeks, but the Cowboys can’t be upset about it. They’re 1-1 after beating the Washington Redskins 27-23 on Sunday, equaling their Romo-less win total from a year ago after just two games. And it hasn’t been on the shoulders of Elliott. Sunday’s win was the result of Prescott’s stellar play.

On the drive, Prescott completed 5 of 6 passes for 56 yards. It was a picture-perfect 11-play march down the field, which is exactly what the Cowboys needed. As impressive as it was, it nearly didn’t happen.

On the same drive, Elliott fumbled. Had it not been for Doug Free, who fell on the loose pigskin, Prescott’s heroics may have never came to fruition. And this wasn’t Elliott’s first mental error. Earlier in the game, he fumbled it away after Josh Norman punched it from his grasp, Peanut Tillman-style. He wasn’t as lucky the first time around, as the Redskins recovered it and converted the turnover into three points – the same three points that Prescott erased by winning the game a few drives later.

Elliott did score his second career touchdown earlier in the game and had 83 yards (21 carries) on the ground, but this was Prescott’s game. He looked as good as he has all year – preseason included.

In all, Prescott completed 22 of 30 passes for 292 yards with a passer rating of 103.8, though he still hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass yet. He did, however, have zero turnovers for the second straight game, and ran for his first career touchdown – a 6-yard scramble after realizing all of his receivers were blanketed.

His numbers may not be eye-popping, given his lack of touchdowns, but he's protected the football as well as possible through two games. He's done so at a historic rate, too, passing Warren Moon for the most pass attempts by a rookie without an interception in his first two games.

His play goes beyond the box score, too. Prescott was faced with 12 third downs and a fourth down in the game. He converted six of those third-down attempts and made a key completion to Geoff Swaim while under pressure on fourth-and-1. It went for 28 yards and set up Dallas’ first touchdown of the game – a 1-yard rush by Elliott.

Entering the season, the Cowboys were expecting Elliott to be their star rookie. In fact, they were hoping Prescott never saw the field this season, or in 2017 either, for that matter. This was Romo’s team with Prescott being a possible heir to him after he called it a career.

The situation hasn’t been kind to Dak as he was thrown into the fire without much warning. From Romo’s unexpected injury to Elliott’s rookie mistakes and struggles, to the defense’s lackluster play in two games – yet he’s handled it about as well as a fourth-round rookie quarterback could. It’s hard to imagine any first-year quarterback playing as well as he has thus far.

Without Prescott, who knows where the Cowboys would be. Actually, we probably do know: likely 0-2 and very reminiscent of last year’s team. Instead, he has this squad looking similar to the 2014 group that nearly reached the NFC Championship Game.

He’s been one of the most impressive rookies in the NFL, regardless of position. And there’s no question he – not Zeke – has been Dallas’ savior and best rookie through two games.

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Dak Prescott

Geoff Swaim

Dallas Cowboys

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