There’s nothing like scrolling through the reactions of other fanbases to see the frustrations they’re feeling with their team’s NFL Draft haul. Whether it’s the Philadelphia Eagles or the Green Bay Packers, there are a lot of frustrated fans who don’t understand why their teams aren’t interested in surrounding their franchise quarterback with as much talent as possible.
Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles added Jalen Reagor in the first round and Marquise Goodwin in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. However, they’re still seen as an organization that has struggled to surround Quarterback Carson Wentz with adequate weapons. Remember, they opted to use their second-round pick on Quarterback Jalen Hurts and then traded their fourth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys, who eventually selected Wisconsin Center Tyler Biadsz.
The Green Bay Packers ignored wide receiver and tight end in their draft and traded up to draft a quarterback in the first round.
The Dallas Cowboys, on the other hand, continue to stockpile weapons for their franchise quarterback. Speaking to Scott Van Pelt on the Scott Van Pelt show on ESPN last night, Stephen Jones reiterated that Dak Prescott is the guy that the front office and the coaching staff believe can lead them to a Super Bowl. They’re confident they’ll get a deal done that’s “good for Dak Prescott, good for the Cowboys, and good for this team.”
The other thing he mentioned is the importance of supporting their franchise quarterback.
By drafting CeeDee Lamb and Tyler Biadsz, the Dallas Cowboys continue to invest in their offense from a draft perspective. That’s something that started during the Jason Garrett era and is now continuing under Mike McCarthy.
During Jason Garrett’s tenure as head coach, the Dallas Cowboys spent five of their first-round picks on offensive players. Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin, and Ezekiel Elliott were all drafted with the hopes of extending Tony Romo’s prime and playing career. The offensive linemen helped create one of the best offenses in the NFL in 2014.
In 2018, the Dallas Cowboys used their first-round pick in a trade with the Raiders to acquire Amari Cooper.
That’s more than half of the Dallas Cowboys’ first-round picks in nine seasons being allocated to the offensive side of the football. Compare that to Mike McCarthy’s tenure with the Green Bay Packers, who only used three first-round picks in 13 seasons on the offensive side of the ball.
The Dallas Cowboys front office believes in getting quality players around their quarterback with the hopes that it maximizes their ability. We saw last year with Dak Prescott how having three legit receivers to throw to can help a quarterback. Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and Randall Cobb each averaged more than 15 yards per receptions as Dak Prescott nearly threw for 5,000 yards.
People will argue that Dak Prescott isn’t a good quarterback, and that’s why the Dallas Cowboys had to surround him with all this talent. I firmly disagree. When you have a good player at the most important position in the NFL, you want to surround them with good players so that you can maximize the talent that they have. It’s the same reason the Dallas Cowboys drafted Dez Bryant in the first, signed Terrell Owens as a free agent, and attempted to trade for wide receivers for both Tony Romo and Troy Aikman.
Quarterbacks can’t win games on their own. They need help. It doesn’t matter if you’re Tom Brady or Joe Montana or Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees. The team around you matters just as much to the success of a franchise as the play of the quarterback.
The Dallas Cowboys have done a great job building a team that is ready to contend in 2020 and beyond. They need to do it on the field, but they’ve done everything they can to sustain the offensive explosion we saw from the passing game in 2019.
Dak Prescott is a good quarterback, and the Dallas Cowboys have good weapons for him to utilize in the offense. Both things can be true, and neither has to be a slight to the other. Now all the Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott need to do is have that contract finalized so that their franchise quarterback can put their offensive investments to work.
The Dallas Cowboys are going to be one of the most fun teams to watch in the 2020 NFL season, when it happens, because of all the investments they’ve made to surround their franchise quarterback with a substantial amount of weapons.
After just having a career year, Dak Prescott is set up to do it again in 2020. This year though, everything will come together, and it will translate to wins.
