Like It Or Not, Dak Prescott Was Elite In 2023

Like It Or Not, Dak Prescott Was Elite In 2023

As we approach the week of NFL conference championship games,

the Dallas Cowboys can only wonder.

How did this occur?

How could another season of promise, perhaps the most hope Cowboys supporters have had this century,

end in disappointment?

Instead of preparing for the San Francisco 49ers for the third year in a row,

the Cowboys are forced to watch the Detroit Lions stand in their place.

The Cowboys defeated the Lions in a big Week 17 showdown clouded by the “failure to report-gate” incident,

securing the conference’s second seed.

A home Wildcard game against the red-hot 7th seed Green Bay Packers was meant to assure a home game in the Divisional round.

What’s more aggravating is that this Cowboys club, with its nine All-Pro picks,

should have been the NFC’s second favorite, trailing only San Francisco.

The grades prove it, and that is where I shall begin today’s series.

Please join me, Cowboys Nation, in your agony and wrath as we go over the 2023 grades by position group.

When you see how good they are, you may get irritated all over again.

Pro Football Focus Premium provides all grades and statistics.

Quarterbacks

The header may be plural, but I don’t see the need to feature backup quarterback Cooper Rush too heavily in this evaluation.

Rush played only a few snaps this season, and they were in mop-up duty.

Like It Or Not, Dak Prescott Was Elite In 2023

Dak Prescott

PFF Overall Grade (NFL Rank): 90.0 (3rd)
PFF Passing Grade (NFL Rank): 87.0 (3rd)
PFF Rushing Grade (NFL Rank): 78.6 (8th among qualified quarterbacks)

Dak Prescott was among the most efficient quarterbacks in the NFL during the 2023 regular season.

His second-team All-Pro selection demonstrates that he elevated his game to a level that he had never achieved previously in his career.

What sparked this newfound command of the Cowboys’ offense?

The most likely culprit is Head Coach Mike McCarthy.

McCarthy has been regarded as a quarterback expert throughout his coaching career,

and the loss of former play-caller Kellen Moore enabled McCarthy to unlock Prescott.

The Statistics

Looking at the basic figures on the top page of any statistical website is enjoyable,

but delving deeper reveals more information.

Prescott finished with 4,516 yards passing and 69.4% completions while throwing  an NFL-leading 36 touchdown passes.

Those figures are even more astounding when you realize that the offense didn’t hit its stride until Week 6.

Prescott’s worst game of his career against the 49ers in Week 5 provided the boost the offense needed to finish as the top scoring offense in all of football.

His 87.0 passing grade ranked third, after only Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa and Buffalo’s Josh Allen.

A quarterback in elite company has the right to be considered elite, doesn’t he?

What truly distinguished Dak (and the other two passers) from the pack were the detailed metrics that no one notices unless they are pointed out.

These statistics include big time throws, turnover-worthy plays, and adjusted completion %.

Big Time Throws

Big time throws are characterized as passes with outstanding ball placement and timing,

typically thrown further downfield or in a smaller window.

Prescott completed 41 big-time passes, trailing only Josh Allen (42),

and his big-time throw percentage (5.9%) ranks seventh among quarterbacks with 10 games played.

When I think of big throws, I think of the seam routes that Prescott has mastered.

Troy Aikman had the thin post. Tony Romo had a back shoulder fade. Dak’s throw is a safety-splitting seam.

Turnover-worthy Plays

PFF defines turnover-worthy plays as those that have a significant possibility of being intercepted.

Prescott is 13th among quarterbacks who have played at least 10 games, with 17 turnover-worthy plays.

That rank may not appear to be particularly impressive, but consider this.

Dak’s big time pass % into tight windows is practically the highest in the NFL,

but only nine of those plays resulted in an interception, which is more than adequate.

Adjusted Completion Percentage

The adjusted completion % takes the amount of throws dropped by pass-catchers and counts them as completions because the quarterback hit the target.

Adjusting for drops, Prescott’s true completion percentage rises to 77.0%.

That ranks sixth in the NFL among quarterbacks who have played at least ten games.

Grade: A.

I give Dak Prescott a “A” for the 2023 season.

After a difficult start, he led his team to the best scoring offense in the NFL,

as well as first in a variety of other metrics.

Prescott was masterful in his triumphs, and he defeated the teams he was supposed to beat.

That is the primary goal of any starting quarterback in the NFL.

In the losses, his defense did not aid him, and he cannot be held entirely responsible.

Most of Cowboys Nation refuses to admit it,

but Dak Prescott remains the greatest quarterback option for this team going forward.

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