How the draft provides a déjà vu moment for the Cowboys to preserve the life of their quarterback
Drafting Ashton Jeanty would (obviously) feel a lot like 2016.
The year was 2016. The Dallas Cowboys were coming off a losing season when their quarterback missed extensive time due to injury. They had finished with a 12-win season the year prior before losing to the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. Their quarterback was entering his 10th season as the team’s full-time starter and recently in the MVP conversation. Their quarterback was also north of 30 years of age and had missed games in three of the previous four years, including being lost for the season twice over the last six years.
At running back, the team had just used a low-cost veteran, who despite not being used much early in the year. managed to pick things up as the season went on and churned out 1,000 yards. Before that, they had just let a Pro Bowl running back walk in free agency. That running back in question wasn’t used much early in his career, but finished with two straight 1,000-yard seasons before pricing himself out in Dallas.
If this story has a familiar sound, it is because this exact situation is happening again in Dallas.
| SITUATION | THEN | NOW |
| Losing season the previous year | Yes | Yes |
| Lost in the playoffs the year before that | to the Packers | to the Packers |
| QB entering his 10th year as a full-time starter | Tony Romo | Dak Prescott |
| QB finished with MVP votes the year before last | Tony Romo | Dak Prescott |
| Seasons missing extensive time over the last six years | 2 (Romo) | 2 (Prescott) |
| Seasons missing games over the last four years | 3 (Romo) | 3 (Prescott) |
| Low cost 1,000-yard rusher | Darren McFadden | Rico Dowdle |
| Previous Pro Bowl RB | DeMarco Murray | Tony Pollard |
Eerily enough, the similarities may not stop there. Back then, the Cowboys made a concerted effort to give Tony Romo some help (or at least they thought it would be Romo they were helping) by using premium draft capital to take college's top running back, Ezekiel Elliott. The team had previously invested in their offensive line by using first-round draft picks on linemen, and the belief was that fortifying a rushing attack that would command the attention from the defense would take some of the pressure off their quarterback.
The Cowboys can do this again by taking college’s star running back Ashton Jeanty with their 12th overall pick. Adding a running back with elite talent would give the team a balanced attack on offense and force opposing defenses to have to stop both Jeanty and CeeDee Lamb similar to how they had to deal with Zeke and Dez Bryant in the past.
And to add a cherry on the top of this doggleganger scenario, the Cowboys have also mentioned that they are interested in taking a quarterback in this year’s draft.
“You know, I think one of our goals is to get a young quarterback in the draft,” Jones said. “I don’t know where that’s going to be.
That was also their thinking in 2016 as they wanted a better backup plan should their injury-prone quarterback go down again. And that is what led them to draft Dak Prescott. It was a good thing they did because Romo wasted no time going down as he was injured in the preseason, calling Prescott to action sooner than expected. We know how that story unfolded, but it would be crazy to think the Cowboys could hit the bullseye again, especially considering that dart would be thrown no sooner than the fifth round.
Over the last 10 years, there haven’t been many new late-round Dak stories. Mr. Irrelevant himself, Brock Purdy, stands alone as the only quarterback selected late in the draft who has made any noise. Here are some of the other late round quarterbacks over the last 10 years that have done okay:
- 2022 - Sam Howell (5th-round)
- 2019 - Gardner Minshew (6th-round)
- 2018 - Mike White (5th-round)
- 2016 - Jeff Driskel (6th-round)
Yes, that’s not a long list, nor is it an intimidating one, but that’s the best we got. This speaks to how unlikely it is for the Cowboys to find a viable quarterback late in the draft. If you’re looking for a silver lining, the Cowboys have three fifth-round darts to throw and one of those quarterbacks on the above list, Mike White, was drafted by Dallas.
It’s not likely to be déjà vu all over again, but the Cowboys have to think about their quarterback position and take action to preserve his health and have a feasible contingency plan should he go down.
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