Dak Prescott had one of his best-ever seasons in the NFL in 2025, and he's been recognized for it.
There isn't much debate about it; the 2025 season was one of the best years of Dak Prescott's Dallas Cowboys career.
That might sound odd to some, given the 7-9-1 record and no playoffs, but watching Prescott for the entire 2025 season, few quarterbacks played the position better than No. 4.
Prescott would finish Year 10 with a fourth Pro Bowl nod, 4,552 passing yards, 30 TDs, and just 10 interceptions, serving as a beacon of high-level consistency for Brian Schottenheimer.
Dak was responsible for George Pickens' first-ever Pro Bowl and was also a key reason Dallas won games, not why it lost them. That title belonged to the defense more often than not.
But still, the shine comes off Dak's 2025 season because of the record and no playoffs, however for NFL.com's Nick Shook, he recognizes Dak's excellence this season.
In his 2025 QB rankings, Shook has Dak at No. 3, behind only Josh Allen (2) and Matthew Stafford (1), while being ahead of MVP favorite Drake Maye (4), Justin Herbert (5), and Trevor Lawrence (6).
“Dak Prescott was the reason the Cowboys finished anywhere near .500 this season,” Shook wrote. “He proved himself as one of the NFL's best passers, completing a league-high 404 attempts for 4,552 yards and 30 touchdowns. He powered George Pickens' career-best season and reminded us of his value throughout Dallas' up-and-down campaign.
"The hope is that the Cowboys can maximize his talents better in 2026.”
Is that fair? Based on the regular season, we think so. Although you wouldn't hear many arguments if Dak was somewhere in the top five, either.
Still, we will look back on the Cowboys' 2025 season and look straight at the defense under Matt Eberflus, because it was that bad. Not looking at Dak's elite play time and time again.
Prescott will enter Year 11, perhaps in the best shape and form of his career, and if the Cowboys can do right by him (extend Pickens and Javonte), along with making key additions to the defense, maybe 2026 could be something special.
Granted, that is asking a lot from a Cowboys franchise that has a history, at least of late, of sitting on its hands in free agency.
But maybe what Prescott was able to do in 2025 might push the front office to finally be "all-in" and take advantage of Dak's talents for once.