After watching the Dallas Cowboys get beaten so spectacularly in Week 10 that Jerry Jones started ranting about *checks notes* the sun, and the moon, it's clear the season is over in Big D.
Sure, maybe they can secure a win or two down the stretch, but why bother? Dak Prescott is on IR, the season is basically a wash, and even a win or two more could seriously impact the team's draft positioning in a year with multiple interesting quarterbacks but no clear number one player just yet.
And yet, there is one reason for fans to still tune into Cowboys games, but only if the team really leans into the chaos – haven't they already? – in the form of Trey Lance, the former third-overall pick who only got gadget duty in Week 10 against the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Cowboys want to make these last few games mean something, they need to go all-in on the North Dakota State product to see what he can do, as otherwise, they're just counting down the quarters until everyone can go on vacation.
1. Trey Lance cost a lot to acquire
When the Cowboys acquired Lance back in 2023, it was genuinely anyone's guess if it would work out.
Some fans loved the idea of landing a former first-round quarterback for a fourth-round pick with a year left on his rookie contract. Others, a group that has grown by the month, questioned the idea of trading a mid-round pick, the same round they used on Dak Prescott back in 2016, to acquire a quarterback who'd accomplished nothing in the NFL despite playing for offensive guru Kyle Shannahan.
Unfortunately, the latter group has largely been proven right, as Lance hasn't done anything but throw preseason interceptions for the Cowboys and hang out on the bench, but that doesn't change the reason Dallas made the trade in the first place, which Jones broke down shortly after the deal was announced.
“That was, the first thing that I wanted to make sure we were clear on, but the idea of having what we had seen when he [Lance] came through the draft and being able to work with it again with our quarterback room was, just an opportunity that, we have thought about many times try to get to, if he had hung around long enough, we might have done this on the Philadelphia quarterback [Hurts] back two years ago on it,” Jerry Jones said. “My point is that, this, we view it as an opportunity. It is our plan when we can, but it very seldom happens to have someone of a, of high enough quality to be there at the right place with our draft pick, and this one worked, and so we're excited about it.”
Since landing in Dallas, Lance has played all 15 offensive snaps for the Cowboys, completing four of the six passes he attempted for 21 yards and an interception. While he also picked up 17 yards on the ground on three attempts, Lance has hardly produced at the level the Cowboys were hoping for when his number was called, which is unfortunate because Cooper Rush is hardly a world-beater as a QB2.
2. The Cowboys know who Cooper Rush is in the NFL
Since initially signing with the Cowboys as a UDFA out of Central Michigan, Rush has more or less been a member of the Cowboys.
Sure, technically, Rush had a cup of coffee with the New York Giants when then-offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was working for the team as their offensive coordinator in 2020, but that lasted all of a few months, and he doesn't have a single on-field stat to show for it.
No, since turning pro in 2017, Rush has more or less been a member of the Cowboys, with the now-30-year-old appearing in 31 games with seven starts while completing 178 of his 298 passing attempts for 1,831 yards, nine touchdowns, and six picks. Rush has a 5-2 record as a starter, even if he hasn't won a game since 2022, and outside of the rare highlight play, the Cowboys more or less know what he is: a backup quarterback.
If Rush wants to stay in Dallas for five more seasons, he likely can, even if the team's QB3 changes from one Day 3 draft prospect to another, depending on the year. If he wants to try his hand elsewhere, he would probably find work on a contender that wants a veteran hand sandwiched between their starter and a developmental arm, especially for a coach that already knows him like Dan Quinn or Kellen Moore. And if he wanted to follow in Moore's footsteps, who knows, maybe he could get on the Cowboys' coaching staff in one form or another, which has paid big dividends for other coaches in the past.
And as for Lance? Well, his ceiling is still unwritten, as it wasn't even five years ago that he was one of the hottest prospects in the NFL draft.
3. Trey Lance was once considered an elite prospect
Remember, if you will, the spring of 2021. The previous college football season was kind of a wash, the combine had extra weight, and sports fans the world over were fully locked into the player evaluation process before the NFL draft.
Now to some, the idea of drafting Lance was dangerous, as he came from an FCS school and didn't exactly have Carson Wentz's body of work from the same system – not that Wentz ended up being that great of a QB long-term – but what he did have was insane athleticism the like of which few NFL players could match and an inability to drink alcohol until the following month.
Evaluating what made Lance special ahead of the draft, NFL.com's Lance Zierlein noted that the pride of NDSU had the floor of a good NFL starter with a ceiling to become even better.
One-year starter who dazzled in 2019. Lance is mature for his age, but will be just 20 years old at the time of the 2021 NFL Draft. He's a rare dual-threat quarterback in that he's tasked with setting his own protections and reading the full field. Coaches rave about his football IQ and film work. They believe he will come into the league more football savvy than most of the quarterbacks in this draft. Tape shows very average arm strength but velocity should improve with better lower-body drive. While his recognition of coverage danger is a plus, he's currently more of a ‘yellow light' quarterback who needs to find a “green light” risk-taking mentality to become a playmaking talent in the NFL. An offensive coordinator willing to blend his run/pass talent with a play-action attack could get the most out of Lance, who should become a good NFL starter.
Unfortunately for Zierlein and other members of the NFL draft community who were high on Lance, he really hasn't made good on the hype, as he was fully outplayed by “Mr. Irrelevant” Brock Purdy in San Francisco and was traded for a mid-round pick a few years after going third overall but that doesn't mean his career is over, let alone defined one way or the other. If Lance can play out the rest of the season, take his lumps, and ultimately make progress down the stretch, he might be worth a longer look in 2025, either in Dallas or on another QB-needy team like the Las Vegas Raiders.
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