Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has his doubters, but in a mock draft of active players, where would the former Mississippi State star be taken?
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has many detractors in the NFL media, but he may have found a friend in CBS Sports.com's Chad Reuter.
NFL teams are currently on a break before training camp begins, and media outlets need to get creative at this time of year. Reuter has done that and has complied a Mock Draft of current active players based on the team's previous draft order.
There is criteria with the Mock Draft.
- Teams are listed based on the first-round order from the 2023 NFL Draft, restoring all traded or forfeited picks to the original holders.
- The subsequent rounds are "snaked," to distribute talent evenly among the 32 franchises -- that is, the order of Round 1 is reversed in Round 2, which is reversed in Round 3, and so on.
- No trades or compensatory selections were included.
So now we get to the draft, and Reuter has Prescott being a top-10 pick, taken at No. 9 by the Carolina Panthers.
"Prescott is still a top-10 quarterback when healthy, so the Panthers make him the next passer off the board," Reuter wrote.
That is quite the accomplishment for Dak and is a sign of his body of work since entering the league. What is interesting is Dak was taken ahead of Deshaun Watson (No. 12), Tua Tagovailoa (No. 21), Russell Wilson (No. 30), Kyler Murray (No. 31), and Matthew Stafford (No. 39 second round).
Some see Dak as less than some of those quarterbacks mentioned, but he is selected ahead of them. Hmm, interesting.
The quarterbacks taken ahead of Prescott include Patrick Mahomes (No. 1), Joe Burrow (No. 2), Josh Allen (No. 3), Jalen Hurts (No. 4), Aaron Rodgers (No. 5), Trevor Lawrence (No. 6), Justin Herbert (No. 7), and Lamar Jackson at No. 8, so there's no real argument there.
Since entering the league in 2016, Prescott is eighth in touchdowns (166), ninth in completions (2,185), 12th in completion percentage (66.6), sixth in wins, and 10th in interceptions (65).
That all points to Prescott being a top draft pick, which is exactly what he was in the active player Mock Draft. ... which is on the one hand nothing more than a summer fun exercise ... but also represents some pleasant intelligence regarding Prescott getting the recognition he deserves.
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