It has been eight seasons since the Dallas Cowboys drafted Dak Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Originally, he was expected to sit and develop behind Tony Romo. But Romo suffered an ultimately career-ending injury in the preseason.
Prescott was thrust into the starting role well ahead of schedule.
He has played six full seasons – missing 11 games in 2020 and another five in 2022 to injury. Prescott is 73-41 as a starter and has led Dallas to double-digits in win in five years.
He has 29,459 yards with 202 touchdowns and 74 interceptions. Impressive numbers – in the regular season.
Prescott’s numbers in the playoffs are less than ideal.
The Cowboys did not make the playoffs in 2017, 2019, and 2020.
In the five seasons Prescott has started a playoff game for the Cowboys he holds just a 2-5 record. He is 2-2 in the Wild Card round and 0-3 in the Divisional round.
Prescott has 1,962 passing yards in those seven games – a 266 yards per game average – with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Against The Cowboys’ Legends
By comparison, Romo was a starter for 10 seasons and got Dallas to the playoffs in only four of those seasons.
In 127 total starts, Romo was 78-49 and he finished with 34,183 passing yards. Romo had 248 touchdowns and 117 interceptions.
But, as is the case with Prescott, Romo struggled in the postseason.
He finished with a 2-4 record with 1,316 passing yards (219.3 per game), eight touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Both Romo and Prescott pale in comparison to the Super Bowl-winning counterparts – Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach.
Aikman led Dallas to the playoffs in eight of his 12 seasons. He finished with an 11-4 record, 3,849 yards, 23 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
Aikman also won three Super Bowls and was 3-1 in the NFC Championship game.
Staubach led the Cowboys to eight postseason runs, finishing with an 11-6 record. He had 2,791 yards, 24 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
He won two of the four Super Bowls he started.
It likely would have been three out of five if Tom Landry hadn’t stubbornly stuck with Craig Morton in the Super Bowl V loss to the Colts.
Staubach was 4-2 in the NFC Championship game.
Morton led Dallas to the playoffs in three of his four years as a starter. He finished 3-2 overall with 630 passing yards, four touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Don Meredith got the Cowboys to the playoffs in each of his final three years, He finished 1-3 with two losses coming to the Packers in the NFL championship game both years.
Meredith had 551 passing yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions.
Danny White led the Cowboys to five playoff seasons and finished 5-5 with three straight losses in the NFC Championship game from 1980-82.
White had 2,284 passing yards with 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
Against His Peers
Prescott’s number puts him in the middle of the pack when stacked up against quarterbacks drafted in 2016 and after.
Jared Goff, drafted number one overall in 2016 by the Rams, is 4-3 in four playoff seasons with the Rams and the Lions.
Goff is 1-0 in the conference title game, and will going for a second win on Sunday. He is 0-1 in the Super Bowl.
The only other 2016 quarterback to make the playoffs was drafted second. Carson Wentz did the heavy lifting to get the Eagles to the Super Bowl.
But an injury derailed his year and he was never the same quarterback when he returned.
He did start one playoff game in 2019 – going 1-for-4 for three yards and a fumble – before leaving the game.
Three of the 2017 quarterbacks have made the playoffs. Number two overall Mitch Trubisky is 0-2 while number 12 overall Deshaun Watson is 1-2.
But the cream of the crop is Patrick Mahomes – the 10th overall pick that year.
Mahomes is 12-3 overall with 4,346 yards, 36 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also has two Super Bowl rings in three attempts.
Mahomes will go into Sunday’s game at Baltimore in what will be his sixth-straight AFC championship game.
The 2018 quarterback class is a combined 10-10 in the playoffs.
Josh Allen is 5-5 after Sunday’s loss to Kansas City. He is 0-1 in the AFC Conference games.
Allen has 2,723 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
Lamar Jackson is 3-3 as he is set to play in his first AFC title game. He has 1,204 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions along with 567 yards rushing.
Baker Mayfield’s loss to Detroit on Sunday dropped him to 2-2. He has 1,153 yards passing with 10 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
The 2019 class has not fared well at all. Kyler Murray is just 0-1 with two picks and no touchdowns for the Cardinals.
Daniel Jones is 1-1 for the Giants with 436 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Young Guns
The 2020 class is 8-8 overall but has played in three conference title games and one Super Bowl.
Joe Burrow tops the group at 5-2 overall – 1-1 in AFC title games and 0-1 in the Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts has played in five games.
Hurts is 2-3 overall with an NFC title but a Super Bowl loss on his resume.
Jordan Love’s first playoff run ended with a 1-1 record. Both Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert are 0-1
The 2021 class is just 1-2 with Trevor Lawrence at 1-1 and Mac Jones 0-1.
The 2022 class is led by the last man taken in the draft that year. Brock Purdy was the 262nd pick by the 49ers.
All he has done in his two years is go 3-1 in the playoffs and throw four touchdowns with no interceptions. He has led the 49ers to their second straight NFC title game this Sunday after losing last year to the Eagles.
C.J. Stroud has the 2023 class on the board early, going 1-1 this year for the Texans. He threw for three touchdowns with no interceptions.
The Road Ahead
Prescott still has time to move himself up the ladder among both his current peers and the former Cowboys’ quarterbacks.
His next playoff win would tie him with Craig Morton for fourth in franchise playoff wins for quarterbacks.
He would need a Super Bowl victory to tie Danny White for third next year at five wins. A Super Bowl would also make him only the third Cowboys’ signal caller to win a title.
He has a lot of work to do to catch up to his peers – and needs an incredible multi-year run to chase down Mahomes.
That work starts in Oxnard in about seven months.
