You know the best thing about the NFC East? It’s completely wide open. Washington is favored to win the division, but only if Dak Prescott doesn’t morph into Donovan McNabb 2.0. The New York Giants will need live up to their potential, but will need to get their offense off life support after repeated preseason struggles. As for the Eagles, their rookie franchise quarterback who has only one start, is slotted to make his regular season debut. In other words, slap a big question mark over each team until we see how things play out.
Dak Prescott had a phenomenal pre-season. In limited preseason action, he threw for 454 yards in the air with no interceptions and five touchdowns. He completed 78% of his passes, which helped him to an impressive 137.8 QB rating. To add dimension, he added two rushing touchdowns. Prescott has sparked a couple of “is he the real deal or not” debates, and impressed against the Legion of Boom with their starters in. He just might save Jerry Jones’ horrible 2016 drafting.
Many fans have high hopes for Prescott, and indeed he has the potential to be a big-time steal in the draft. In Gruden’s QB Camp, Prescott came off as a polished vet, not a fresh baby faced rookie. Dez Br
“He’s just confident,” explained La’el Collins. “The level of focus that he has every day, the attention to detail that he uses throughout practice, and the questions that he asks.”
Dez Bryant had high praise for the rookie: “The chemistry with not only me and him, but the rest of the guys, it’s tremendous. We’re going to back him up and he’s going to do the same. We’re just going to keep each other lifted and go from there.”
If you were ranking starting quarterbacks right now, would you take a shot on Prescott over: Case Keenum, Blaine Gabbert, Jameis Winston, Sam Bradford, Carson Wentz, Alex Smith, Robert Griffin, Jimmy Garoppolo, Ryan Tannehill, Jay Cutler, and Matthew Stafford? If so, that would place him in the mid-tier group with Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brock Osweiler, and Kirk Cousins. The jury’s still out on Trevor Siemian.
As great a preseason as he had, he does have a few areas he will need to work on very quickly to survive his first year. He has sketchy communication, he’s horrible at reading pre-snap blitzes. He also needs to work on mixing up or using fake hikes to sniff out those blitzes.
Of course he’s just a rookie and is sure to have growing pains. But a mobile rookie that can make all the simple passes with an already acquired special skill—back shoulder throws—has at least the tools to succeed.
https://twitter.com/Jaxsoy/status/767260585360629760
So maybe McNabb 2.0/Prescott—as he’s compared to by quarterback guru—Ron Jaworski, can have a special year. He has the receivers and offensive line. Has a really good running back. And with a wide open division, who knows.
On to Week 1 Picks…
(Home Team in Caps)
Minnesota Vikings (-2) OVER TENNESSE TITANS
HOUSTON TEXANS (-6.5) OVER Chicago Bears
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (-4) OVER Cleveland Browns
BALTIMORE RAVENS (-3) OVER Buffalo Bills
San Diego Chargers (+7) OVER KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Oakland Raiders (+1) OVER NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
ATLANTA FALCONS (-3) OVER Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Cincinnati Bengals (-3) OVER NEW YORK JETS
Green Bay Packers (-6) OVER JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (-10.5) OVER Miami Dolphins
New York Giants (-1) OVER DALLAS COWBOYS
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (-3.5) OVER Detroit Lions
ARIZONA CARDINALS (-6.5) OVER New England Patriots
Pittsburgh Steelers (-3) OVER WASHINGTON REDSKINS
Los Angeles Rams (-3) OVER SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
This Week: 0-1
[1] That may come back to bite me just like me predicting the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl after they outmuscled Seattle in Seattle, only to nearly melt down in the divisional round and then completely fall apart in the Conference Championship. Who knew Carson Palmer was allergic to pressure!?
[2] 1:26 mark, 2:32, and 2:50
