Here’s an interesting, fun fact. While every other scout and sportswriter in America were touting the attributes of Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, one guy actually watched the film and the games and came up with a whole different “Best Quarterback in the 2016 NFL Draft.” That jerk that bucked the trend was me. Goff or Wentz? The debate raged. For me there was no debate. The best, most pro-ready quarterback coming out in the draft Dak Prescott and it wasn’t even close.
If you followed my pre-draft coverage you already knew this. If you had a conversation with me or listened to the college/high school football radio show I’m analyst for, you’ve heard the words come out of my mouth more than once. Prescott was being vastly underrated by the pro scouts and whoever picked him would get the steal of the draft. I’d hoped it would be the Los Angeles Rams, who could have used all the picks they traded to grab one of the star wide receivers and safeties in this draft. Instead they traded those picks, and many more, to the Tennessee Titans for the rights to draft Jared Goff. Saturday night we got to see both men, Goff and Prescott, in action. It was jarring.
.@15_DakP out here looking like a Pro Bowler…
Another perfect TD pass from the rookie! #DALvsLA https://t.co/WQKIAsaEK5
— NFL (@NFL) August 14, 2016
But not to me. As a sportswriter I’m supposed to cover and write about every team and I do, but I’m still human. I have a favorite team and it’s the Rams, regardless of what city they play in. I have teams I hate too (I’m looking at you, New England Patriots) and thanks to the gonzo rules of “new media,” I get to share all of that. When I looked at the Rams draft, and how head coach Jeff Fisher and Les Snead were fighting for their jobs, I didn’t see a trade coming. I thought they’d surely draft players that could impact the team this year in the first two rounds, then in the third look at a quarterback. On pretty much every draft board Prescott would have been there (he wound up going to the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round).
First preseason TD for Dak Prescott goes to Dez Bryant.
Cowboys extend lead, 14-0 pic.twitter.com/2syY1nYrdM
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 14, 2016
If I’d ran the Rams draft that day they would have picked Laquon Treadwell at No. 15, Jason Spriggs at No. 43 and Mackensie Alexander at No. 45. In the third round, at pick No. 76, that’s where I would have nabbed Prescott. I’d still have my first and second round picks in 2017 too. If you then complete the Rams draft just as they had it, with Tyler Higbee and Pharoh Cooper in the fourth, Tamarrick Hemmingway and Josh Forrest in the sixth and Mike Thomas in the seventh, you have an outstanding, team-building draft.
One preseason game doesn’t have to mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but Prescott didn’t just play good Saturday night. He was outstanding. Prescott went 10-for-12 for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He led three scoring drives and a 154.5 passer rating. The two incompletions? Both drops right in the tight end’s hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKP9Wo0N-dY
The thing is, Goff wasn’t terrible. His stat line doesn’t look great (4-of-9, 38 yards, one pick), but he had receivers drop three himself, including a huge downfield pass to Cooper which would have set up first-and-goal. Goff didn’t look bad. The interception came on a blind side blitz and he was hit as he threw the ball. It wasn’t his mistake. It was his offensive line blowing a blocking assignment. So the sky isn’t falling in Los Angeles. Goff still may turn out to be everything the scouts and the Rams hoped he would.
Every throw from the #1 overall pick's debut with the @RamsNFL. 👇 #DALvsLA https://t.co/GKhxWwy7DE
— NFL (@NFL) August 14, 2016
But the frustrating thing for me is, Prescott will be as good or better and if Tony Romo goes down with an injury this year, there’s a good chance he’ll be Wally Pipped. Prescott is a hybrid of Russell Wilson and Cam Newton and the thing those two guys have in common is they’ve been the starting quarterback for the NFC side in the last three Super Bowls. That’s who the Cowboys have in Prescott. For some reason, I was the only one who saw it.
