Early on in the 2019 NFL campaign, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was a frontrunning MVP candidate, and with good reason.
He threw nine touchdowns over his first three games, and the Cowboys got off to a 3-0 start.
But from that point on, it was an up-and-down season for Prescott and Dallas, who went just 5-8 over their final 13 games to miss the playoffs.
With a contract extension looming, Prescott will be one of the most scrutinized figures in the NFL this offseason.
Let's break down the three main takeaways from 2019 for Prescott:
3. Dak Prescott is not just a game manager
Count me among the crowd who thought that Prescott was just a glorified game manager going into 2019.
After seeing the 26-year-old throw for 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns this season, I learned that that is not the case, as he is a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL.
Prescott had never played this well before, as he threw 23, 22 and 22 touchdown passes, respectively, in each of his first three seasons and had never thrown for 4,000 yards before 2019.
Maybe he improved, or maybe it was just a matter of the Cowboys giving him more freedom, but there is no doubt that Prescott proved he has the makings of a franchise quarterback this year.
2. Dak Prescott didn't play that well against good teams
If there was one problem with Prescott in 2019, it was that most of his production came against weaker teams.
He didn't throw a touchdown and threw an interception against the New Orleans Saints. He threw two touchdowns and three picks against the Green Bay Packers. He went 19-for-33 with no touchdowns and an interception against the New England Patriots. And in Dallas' pivotal, NFC East-deciding Week 16 clash with the Philadelphia Eagles, he went 25-for-44 with 265 yards and no touchdowns.
All of those games resulted in losses.
So yes, he lit up the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, but when faced with stiffer competition, Prescott did not live up to the hype.
Was he terrible? No, but there is no question that there was a significant dropoff in production when the moment grew bigger.
Prescott was bothered by a shoulder injury against the Eagles, but that doesn't excuse his lackluster outings in the rest of those games.
1. Dak Prescott will get paid
While the jury may still be out on Prescott in terms of whether or not he is an elite quarterback, one thing seems pretty imminent: the Cowboys will pay him.
Franchise quarterbacks are hard to come by in the NFL, and even though there remain some legitimate concerns about Prescott, there also seems to be little doubt that he is a good signal-caller.
Dallas can ultimately decide that Prescott wants too much and pivot to trying to find someone else to take the reins under center, but that would be an incredibly risky decision.
Prescott cannot be absolved from blame in the Cowboys' nightmarish 2019 campaign, but he is also not the primary reason that Dallas fell on its face.
The Cowboys should extend him this offseason, and they will.
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