Greg Cosell's Film Review: Some recent warning signs with Cowboys QB Dak Prescott

Through most of this season, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott played like a veteran.

Recently, some of the concerns about Prescott coming out of college and some concerns we see with all rookie quarterbacks have been showing up with more regularity.

What I’ve noticed with Prescott – even before his below-average games against the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants – is that he isn’t seeing things as clearly as he did earlier in the season. He is leaving throws on the field. That has been a slight but noticeable trend, and it continued against the Giants.

Prescott missed a big play against the Giants late in the first half. This might have even been a touchdown. Cole Beasley ran a go route from the slot over the top of the defense but Prescott didn’t process it for some reason. Instead, he threw to Terrance Williams on a dig route on the same side of the field.

Again, he’s not seeing things as clearly as he did earlier in the season. This could have been a game-changing touchdown right before halftime.

I’ve seen a trend from Prescott lately, and it’s that he has a lack of patience in the pocket to wait for route concepts to develop at the intermediate and deeper levels. He’s checking it down a little too quickly.

Here’s another play that you’d have to say is a rookie mistake. On third-and-15, the Giants ran a loose “Cover 3” zone with three defensive backs each assigned a deep third of the field. Late in the down, Prescott threw to Dez Bryant on a deep post. That throw is never there against “Cover 3” zone, with a single-high safety sitting in the deep middle. He can’t make that pass. It was an easy interception for safety Leon Hall.

Of course, none of this should be too surprising. It’s normal for rookie quarterbacks to struggle. We’ve seen it with Carson Wentz of the Philadelphia Eagles. But Wentz is asked to do more in the offense with a supporting cast that isn’t on the same level as Dallas’ cast, so his mistakes are magnified. The Cowboys seem to understand Prescott is still a rookie. Against the Giants in particular, Dallas’ passing game was highly schemed to define throws for Prescott, with significant use of bootleg action. That has been the case most of the season, which is smart with a rookie quarterback. Prescott hasn’t been asked to do much progression reading. They didn’t have much of a drop-back passing game against the Giants.

The Cowboys will need to keep defining throws through play calls if Prescott isn’t seeing things clearly.

It’s fair to point out that the Giants played very well on defense in this game. They were aggressive, challenged the Cowboys and didn’t have many breakdowns. In the second quarter, the Cowboys called a shot play (deep pass) and had six offensive linemen to protect. The secondary had great awareness and understanding of the route concepts, taking away the over route from the slot. Prescott got stuck with nowhere to go with the ball and took a sack.

The Giants were very aggressive and multiple with their blitz concepts, and that’s something to keep an eye on from Cowboys opponents going forward. Will Prescott see more blitzes late in the season? They worked for the Giants on Sunday.

Here’s one blitz, from the first third-and-long in the third quarter. It was a zone blitz with safety Landon Collins and linebacker Jonathan Casillas. It was a great example of a defensive front dictating protection and then breaking down the protection, with the result being two-on-one against running back Lance Dunbar. Collins got in clean and forced a hurried incomplete throw by Prescott.

When we talk about Prescott’s issues, none of them should be unexpected. He’s still a rookie. The concerns you could see from him on his Mississippi State film – not throwing with a firm base, a tendency to drift when throwing to his left, a locked front leg that negatively impacts velocity and at times causes deeper throws to lose energy on the back end – are showing up with more regularity. He will need an offseason to work on these issues, like all other rookie quarterbacks.

The offseason is still a long way off for the Cowboys and Prescott, however. The Cowboys have to figure out ways to get their rookie quarterback again playing his best ball going into the playoffs.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.