The Dallas Cowboys have some high expectations heading into the 2022 NFL season. They won the NFC East last season but fell flat in the postseason, losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card round.
A big reason for their success last season was how well the offense produced. The Cowboys ranked No. 1 in points and yardage in 2021 as they had a prolific offense led by quarterback Dak Prescott.
Prescott’s injury during the 2020 season derailed the team that season, but he got back on track during the 2021 campaign. He started 16 games, completing a career-high 68.8 percent of his passes for 4,449 yards and 37 touchdowns. The touchdowns were also a career-high as he finished second in the Comeback Player of the Year award race.
This season, Prescott will have some more pressure on him as the weapons around him were depleted a bit during the offseason. His nominal No. 1 receiver the last few seasons, Amari Cooper, was traded to the Cleveland Browns in what was a salary dump for the team. Cedrick Wilson Jr., who filled in admirably last season when injuries arose, left in free agency, signing with the Miami Dolphins.
CeeDee Lamb is ready to take over as the No. 1 wide receiver on the team, but the team is thin when it comes to depth. Michael Gallup is recovering from ACL surgery and James Washington suffered a Jones fracture during training camp. That leaves Lamb as the only healthy wide receiver on the roster who has caught a touchdown in the NFL.
The Cowboys are going to need Prescott to once again step up his performance and help elevate his teammates. However, one NFL coach doesn’t believe Prescott is too elite, throwing some shade at the Dallas signal caller.
“He’s a solid player. Really solid,” a NFL coach said. “He’s not going to change and all of a sudden become something more special.”
If the Cowboys are going to get over the hump this season, they are going to need Prescott to become something more special. Dallas’s defense is middle of the road, so he will need to raise his level of production to help make up for that.
With so much inexperience at wide receiver, Prescott will have more responsibility on his shoulders to make the players around him better. That is something the best of the best are capable of doing and Prescott will have a chance to show that he should be included in those lists this upcoming season.
