Raging Cowboy rookies

Cowboy rookies Prescott and Elliott off to record breaking starts

By Erik Pinto, Contributor

Historically, the Dallas Cowboys have been known as “America’s Team.” They are tied for the most Super Bowl appearances and have the third most Super Bowl victories. Without a doubt, they are a franchise that is known as a success.

However, in the past decade, the Cowboys have struggled, especially at the quarterback position. For years the team revolved around their star quarterback Tony Romo. When Romo was hot, the entire team was playing well. But Romo has been inconsistent when he’s been on the field, as injuries have plagued him. Accordingly, Romo entered the 2016 season on the sideline. With their star quarterback out, it appeared that the Dallas Cowboys were going to struggle out of the gate. That is, until the Dallas Cowboys had their rookies step up.

The first is Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys’ fourth round pick in this past year’s draft. Although Prescott was only considered to play the role of backup quarterback coming into this season, the Louisiana native began his NFL career with multiple strong preseason outings and was thus penciled in as the starting quarterback for week one. Despite being the quarterback for such a renowned franchise, there was no pressure on Prescott whatsoever. Nobody expected a rookie quarterback to come in the league and dominate, until he did just that. Prescott has put up huge numbers, even breaking the record for most passes made by a rookie quarterback without having thrown an interception.

At running back for Prescott’s offence is another rookie named Ezekiel Elliott. In the case of Elliott, expectations were high. He was chosen by the Cowboys as their first round pick, and the fourth overall pick in the recent draft. Ranked as the best running back in his draft class, there was a lot of hype around this young stud out of the University of Ohio State. Since the very moment he was picked, Ezekiel (also known as Zeke) has lived up to the hype, and then some. Elliott has recorded 703 rushing yards through six weeks, which is more than the total rushing yards for 25 different teams. Forget incredible, these numbers are record breaking. When asked if his teammate Elliott could reach 2,000 yards, star wide receiver Dez Bryant told the Star-Telegram “Yeah, I believe it. Two thousand or more. That’s my prediction.” Considering the record amongst rookie running backs for most yards is 1,808, that is an incredibly bold prediction. And considering that most NFL running backs have a hard time breaking 1,500 the way the game is played now, that’s even more incredible. But with the pace he’s at, it’s definitely not impossible.

Combined, these two rookies have managed to get the Cowboys off to a 5–1–0 start heading into a bye week. A record that absolutely no analyst, reporter, or professional would’ve been able to predict before the first week.

Expect these two rookies to continue their success and thrive in the NFL for years to come.