Jerry Jones details key change to Cowboys offense, points to intriguing impact on Dak Prescott
from Jeff Smith, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
The Dallas Cowboys’ new offense may not be as drastically different as some were hoping, but as the days go by, there are more and more tidbits that slowly come out about the unique changes. The offense, which is now run by head coach Mike McCarthy, certainly sounds like it’s quarterback-friendly in virtually every way.
One wrinkle which was brought to light by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is a change to the speed in which Prescott is getting the ball out of his hands, as The Athletic’s Jon Machota detailed.
“Cowboys owner Jerry Jones noted that one of the offensive changes is that Prescott will be getting the ball out quicker in the passing game. It sounds like Prescott will have fewer reads. For example, if the first two aren’t there, he might be looking to get into the scramble drill a little quicker.” Machota wrote.
Dak Prescott’s potential and upside running the ball
The last part in that is certainly interesting, as Prescott has certainly shown the ability to take off and run the ball throughout his career as needed. But in the past two seasons, Prescott’s running has had more of a focus on picking up short first downs. Last season, Prescott may have seen his rushing numbers advance back closer to what they were in the early stages of his NFL career, as he had 45 attempts for 182 yards in 12 games, but the season prior, he had just 48 attempts for 146 yards in 16 games.
For comparison’s sake, over Prescott’sf first four years in the NFL, he averaged 60.3 rushing attempts per season, with a high-water mark of 75 in 2018. In each of those four seasons, the Cowboy signal-caller had at least 277 yards on the ground and scored 21 combined rushing touchdowns over that span. Prescott also had six rushing touchdowns in each of his first three seasons while scoring just two combined over the past two seasons in 28 games.
Prescott’s passing yards per attempt over the first four seasons when he was running more came in at 7.6 and his yards per completion averaged out to be 11.6. With Cooks now added to the mix and Pollard now the featured running back in Dallas, there could be a lot of running room for Prescott in 2023. There’s plenty of reason to believe the 29-year-old Pro Bowler is primed for what could potentially be his best season statistically as a runner, and in turn, should set him up to have a big season passing in this new offense as well.