The 2019 NFL season saw the rise and fall of multiple QBs, two QBs who rose were Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.
When Prescott entered the NFL there was not much thought of him. Prescott was a 4th round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2016 and was thought of as the likely backup to then starting QB Tony Romo, but in week 3 of the 2016 preseason, everything changed.
In Week 3 of the preseason, Tony Romo took a hard shot and hurt his back, which resulted in him being out indefinitely. With Romo out indefinitely, it was Dak Prescott time to shine, and boy did he shine.
In Prescott rookie year, he exceeded everybody’s expectations. Prescott finished with a PFF grade of 81.5, and also managed to win the rookie of the year award. with Prescott winning the rookie of the year award, the future seemed bright for the QB, but in the following couple of years, Prescott did not live up to the hype of his rookie season.
Dak did not play badly in the following years, but he didn’t play up to the expectations that were set for him. Prescott would play solid football for the next few years, but this past year, Prescott actually lived up the expectations from his rookie year.
In 2019, Prescott would go on to have a career-high in passing yards, as well as a career-high in. passing touchdowns. Prescott was also able to finish with a PFF grade of above 80 as he finished with an 80.1 grade. Prescott wasn’t the only QB who took a step forward this season.
Heading into the 2018 draft, Lamar Jackson was one of the most divisive QB prospects in the draft.
On one hand, you had people who weren’t the biggest fans of Lamar due to his heavy reliance on his legs, as well as his sub-par arm, on the other hand, you had his supporters who loved his dynamic running ability and believed in his arm talent. Ultimately, Lamar would be the last pick of the 1st round by the Baltimore Ravens.
Unlike Dak Prescott, Lamar did not start immediately his rookie year, nor did he dominate in his rookie year. In Lamar’s rookie year, he initially only came in during certain situations in which he would play QB while Joe Flacco would often line up out wide.
Eventually, Lamar would end up becoming the starting QB in Week 10, but he would dominate. Lamar would end up playing okay football for most of the 2018 season, but in 2019 Lamar would go on to dominate the NFL.
In 2019, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman would embrace Lamar’s dynamic playmaking ability and it would pay off greatly. Lamar would go on to win the MVP in 2019, and would also finish with a PFF grade of 91.1
Heading into 2020, both Lamar and Dak have improved units around them and will be looking to improve on their already impressive 2019 campaigns.
