Prescott played superbly well for most of the year, but due to the team's failures around him, Dak fell out of the MVP conversation.
The 2025 season for Dak Prescott will be looked back on as one of his best for the Dallas Cowboys.
Unfortunately, that will be forgotten because the defense under Matt Eberflus was so bad.
Dak, in his first year under Brian Schottenheimer as head coach, played at an elite level for most of the season. Such was his level of play that Prescott, for the first half of the season, was in the MVP discussion.
But as the losses piled up, mostly due to the defensive ineptitude and some missteps from Dak, his name vanished, and it was Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford who took over the conversation.
And with good reason. Both played at an elite level.
But you can't discount Dak, can you?
Prescott finished third in passing yards (4,552), fourth in TDs (30), 10th in passer rating (99.5), and fifth in QBR (70.3).
So, good numbers for the veteran, and in truth, they don't tell the whole story, do they?
You could make the case that, aside from Stafford, not many have played the quarterback position as well as Dak in 2025.
Still, for most, Dak's season will be forgotten thanks to the defense.
But not for everyone.
ESPN's Seth Walder has ranked his top 100 real MVP candidates for 2025, and he has Maye at No. 1, but after him?
Walder has Dak ahead of Stafford (3).
"Prescott has been absent from the MVP conversation, but I strongly believe that is a mistake," Walder wrote. "Let's start with the obvious reason he was ignored: wins. Dallas was 7-9-1. Ultimately, Prescott should not be punished for the Cowboys' decision to trade away Micah Parsons or their general defensive failures.
"Regardless of Dallas' place in the standings, the numbers point toward Prescott being the second-most valuable player this season."
Now, let's be clear here, Walder isn't suggesting Prescott played well enough to win MVP, because he didn't.
The idea here is to recognize what Dak did in 2025.
Yes, the 7-9-1 record wasn't good, but you can argue that Prescott, for the most part, held up his end of the bargain this season.
The record and the failings down the stretch mean Dak will likely get a participation award for MVP, but he gave himself a great chance with how well he played earlier in the year.
He just couldn't sustain it.
But second? That isn't too bad, either.