Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys bringing along young backfield battery quickly

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Dallas Cowboys are being forced to bring along a young backfield battery much more quickly than anticipated after Tony Romo’s back injury…

It certainly wasn’t how the Dallas Cowboys drew it up, but all things considered, the development of Dak Prescott and debut of Ezekiel Elliott has given them some hope to start the season.

Prescott’s emergence had certainly put fans’ minds at ease about whether or not the team could sustain another Tony Romo injury, but it happened much quicker than anyone could have anticipated. Romo’s injury paved the way for Prescott to be named opening day starter, and optimism for the former Mississippi State star is pretty high.

Prescott hasn’t just come out and looked ‘alright’ for a rookie either. He’s looked pretty spectacular. He looks poised, he’s making great decisions with the football, and he’s spreading the ball around.

With one of the league’s best offensive lines and a skill position group that includes Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, and Jason Witten, Prescott may be able to enjoy the type of success as a rookie that most people probably thought he couldn’t have at any point in his career.

Fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott came in for the first time during Dallas’ preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks and stuck his nose right into the chest of Kam Chancellor, one of the hardest hitting safeties in the NFL.

And he didn’t just do it one time, either.

Elliott showed the type of fearless approach to his running that we saw while he was at Ohio State, and there’s no question he looks ready for the big stage of the NFL.

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Specifically for the drafting of Prescott, the Cowboys have to be feeling pretty great about themselves with what’s gone on recently in Minnesota. It proves the value of evaluating players at that position every year, regardless of how ‘set’ you may feel. It’s not that you plan for injury, but you take risks on good players like Prescott in the draft so that you can reap the benefits down the road.

The New England Patriots are experiencing something similar this season with Jimmy Garoppolo taking over for Tom Brady while he’s suspended. It’s important to have someone under center that you can trust, and it’s a bonus if it’s a young player who could eventually wind up taking over your offense.

The situation of Prescott has been likened somewhat to that of Russell Wilson coming out of Wisconsin in 2012, but Wilson was a guy who came in and flat out won the starting job over Matt Flynn. It was a bold move for Pete Carroll at the time, but it was the right move.

Perhaps in any capacity, starting off the season with Prescott is the right move for Dallas. The defense might not be good enough to get this team into the playoffs, but we certainly wouldn’t be able to find that out if it were someone like Brandon Weeden in there as Romo’s backup.

Prescott’s presence on the roster along with the game-breaking abilities of Ezekiel Elliott give the Cowboys one of the most interesting opening day QB-RB duos in the NFL, and a dynamic group in general that will be a lot of fun to watch every week.

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