Dak Prescott changed his brand of football when he moved to the Dallas Cowboys. The “no-playoff success” narrative is old now. It’s all been said and done and there’s nothing new that we can say about Prescott’s post-season performance. But there’s a new narrative about the Dallas QB, comparing his performance to Derek Carr of the Saints.

Back in his Mississippi days, Prescott was a heavy runner, and in the 2014 college season. The Dallas signal-caller finished with 986 rushing yards, which is a bit uncommon for most QBs. But those talents dwindled over time when he stepped into the pro league. Coach JB and Big Smitty dissected what Dak Prescott is doing wrong and how he can fix it.

Dak Prescott still has more work to do

Coach JB and Big Smitty did a podcast again where the duo went on a tirade against Dak Prescott. They pointed out how Dak Prescott has a “gift” that he doesn’t utilize in the games. For the most part, the hosts assessment is correct, because we seldom see Prescott running the ball and that happens when he’s desperate for a first down or a touchdown. In 2020 the Dallas QB suffered an ankle fracture where he just played 5 games and missed the rest of the season.

“He’s got success, he got injured, he got paid, and now it’s almost like he’s afraid to utilize an asset that he has that’s elite. So, I think Dak’s first of all got to find a balance between that athleticism and being a pocket-only quarterback because Dallas to me is much better when he utilizes that gift,” said the NFL veteran Shaun King of Dak Prescott.

Coach JB seconded King’s motion and pointed out the obvious narrative of Dak not performing when the “lights shine bright.” But he gave his reasoning on why the Dallas signal-caller is lacking in playoff success and even compared him to Derek Carr. He pointed out how Prescott’s Achilles is his “stiffness,” and not being able to align his body to match his actions.

“When the lights shine brightest Shaun, this guy doesn’t show up”, said the coach and added, “He [Prescott] has a lot of Derek Carr in him. I get a lot of Derek Carr from him when I break him down. As good as Dak is and as talented as he is you would agree I believe he’s really, really uber stiff in a lot of areas mechanically.”

The coach backed himself by saying that his feet aren’t “quick” and stated how Prescott’s hips and feet always follow the eye, meaning, senses and his reaction don’t line up. Per coach JB Prescott’s “stiffness” forces him to make blind throws, which often go incomplete or get picked by the opponents.

But the NFL fans also have the same assessment of Prescott and Carr where they are so good, but at the same time, very bad under certain circumstances.

How Prescott draws a parallel to Derek Carr

The Saints finished 9-8 in their last season but there’s a certain fault in Carr’s stars that needs to be pointed out. In a report by John Sigler of Yahoo, he pointed out how the Saints QB is “one of the worst quarterbacks.” Last year, only 18 QBs attempted 40 or more passes from the opposing team’s 20-yard line. Out of those 18 people, the Saints QB ranks 17 in pass completion and dead last in touchdown passes.

One thing that’s common between Prescott and Derek Carr is a bad TD-Int ratio. In his 2022 season, Carr threw 14 picks and had 24 touchdowns. In the same season, Prescott had 23 touchdowns and 15 picks. These picks often switch the tides of the game and destroy game-winning drives for the team that is affected. Carr is 0-1 in the playoffs, but Prescott is 2-5.

One more thing to note about Prescott is that he’s 2-5 in the playoffs and even then, this TD/INT ratio wasn’t impressive. In the 2023 post-season game against the Packers, the Dallas QB had 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He can’t afford to throw so many interceptions when the stakes are high. One of his interceptions led to a touchdown by the Packers.

Another thing to be noted stems from the podcast. Prescott stopped running a lot when he came to the NFL, which means that the coaching that he’s getting relies on him passing the ball rather than the QB taking executive decisions to run it. The QB had 242 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns last season.

The “stiffness” that Coach JB described might stem from his pedal ankle fracture, which to this day might be hindering his mobility and causing him to lose confidence. Or it’s just that the Cowboys don’t want him running the ball that much. But let’s take CeeDee Lamb as an example.

Lamb, who displayed a 1,749-yard performance in his 2023 regular season performed poorly in the only playoff game he played last year. He came up with 110 yards and no touchdowns. But surprisingly, in the same game, Prescott had 403 yards and was 41-60 in the game against the Packers. Out of those 41 completions, 9 went to CeeDee Lamb.

A surprising thing here is that Jordan Love passed for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns in the same game, but still managed to defeat the Cowboys with a 48-32 final score. The “Dak Dilemma” is an uncanny phenomenon where people can’t really point out exactly where Prescott is failing.

Also, he’s in the last year of his extended deal with the Cowboys and there are clear implications that he’d be one of the highest-paid QBs in the league regardless of whether the Cowboys choose to pay him or not. Do you think Prescott can do better this year? Let us know what you think.