Dak the Savior, Zeke the MVP and a Message to Cowboys Fans
By:Steven Ngati
Raise your hand if you had the Dallas Cowboys going 5-1 into their bye week following Tony Romo’s back injury against the Seattle Seahawks back in August? If you’re raising your hand you’re either a habitual liar or you pulled a Biff Tannen and hopped in the DeLorean to drop off a sports almanac from the future to your younger self. Even after several impressive preseason performances by rookie Dak Prescott, the most optimistic Cowboys fans thought somewhere around the neighborhood of 3-3 would be where the Cowboys stood when Romo was ready to return. Many fans and national pundits thought the Cowboys season was over. (Consider me one of the people who thought the Cowboys were headed for another 8-8 season and no playoffs.) I had no faith in the Cowboys without Romo, as they went 1-11 last season and 10-24 over the last 10 years in his absence.
To say the Cowboys had an interesting offseason would be an incredible understatement. As a fan base, we got a jolt of excitement with the selection of Ezekiel (Zeke) Elliott of Ohio State with the 4th pick in the draft. Pre-draft, everyone was split on what the Cowboys should do with their first pick. I personally wanted Jalen Ramsey because I loved him at Florida State and wanted to pair him up with Byron Jones to create the most athletic secondary in the league. Other fans lobbied for Joey Bosa who was Zeke’s teammate at Ohio State. With the looming suspensions of DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory the thought process to take the draft’s best pass rusher was a sound one. With all that being said, the sexy pick was always Zeke. I had no doubt Zeke was one of the three best players in the draft overall and would provide instant impact no matter where he went. At the time I thought defense was the way to go for the Cowboys considering how little talent we had on that side of the ball. Also, I was satisfied with Darren McFadden’s performance in 2015. He finished 4th in the league in rushing, despite only starting half of the season. He also had a non-existent passing game of rotating backup quarterbacks to work with. In my mind I was fine with him as our starting running back with Romo and Dez Bryant back healthy. This line of thinking had me view Zeke as a luxury, not a need. While I was initially disappointed that we passed on Jalen Ramsey, I was happy to see Zeke become a Cowboy. The first thing I noticed about the guy was his infectious energy. He seems like he’s having a blast at all times and I loved the immediate excitement he brought into the building.
Zeke is having a better rookie year than Tony Dorsett and Emmitt Smith. Zeke has the potential to be one of the all time greats at the running back position. Photo Courtesy: USA Today
Post draft was a roller coaster of horrors for the Cowboys. The defense remained with much of the same personnel from the 4-12 season with Byron Jones moving to free safety being our biggest splash. Darren McFadden destroyed his elbow diving to save his cell phone which was falling off the couch. (Isn’t it crazy how he laid out to save his phone and couldn’t lay out for that fumble in the Redskins game last year? That is if you even buy the cell phone falling off the couch story to begin with.) Lawrence, Gregory and Rolando McClain were suspended for failed drug tests. It was July and we had already lost 3 starters from the front seven on defense. The bad luck train kept rolling through the summer as Zeke got caught up with fraudulent domestic violence accusations due to a crazy ex-girlfriend. Training camp began with Kellen Moore breaking his foot at practice. Adding insult to injury, the Cowboys promotional tour bus crashes in Arizona leaving four people dead. Following the Seattle game in week 3 of the preseason, it was difficult for any Cowboys fan to be positive heading into the regular season.
Fast forward seven weeks and we all know the emergence of Dak Prescott saved the Cowboys season from going into the toilet for the second consecutive year. The leadership and consistency that Dak has brought to the team has been a breath of fresh air. I watched Dak a lot at Mississippi State, especially during his short stint as a Heisman hopeful in 2014 and thought coming into the league he was a project in the mold of a Tahj Boyd. A guy who was very productive in college, very athletic, but just didn’t have the polish or accuracy to be a serious threat against a pro defense before phasing out of the league. Dak’s development from a dual-threat player that couldn’t beat anyone from the pocket to a possible franchise quarterback in the NFL is nothing short of remarkable. The progress he’s made as a passer in less than two years are a testament to his work ethic and ability to learn quickly. (The ability to learn and immediately apply what you’ve learned are underrated traits when assessing franchise QB’s in my opinion.) Dak was not a draftable player after his Junior season, but by the time he came out for the Senior Bowl he had begun to change his throwing motion and was learning how to take snaps and drop back from under center. If you look at Dak’s footwork in and out of the pocket this season you would think he’s been playing from under center his whole life. He has displayed incredible accuracy, great arm strength, and impeccable decision making during his rookie season. (Setting the NFL record with 176 passes to start his career without an interception is unbelievable. He might have gotten over 200 if Brett Favre didn’t shake his hand during the game. STAY AWAY FROM MY SIDELINE FAVRE!) The fact that he was doing none of these things in college and ran a completely different system speaks volumes about his potential to be a great quarterback for a long time. There’s a difference between being busy and being productive. Almost every guy in the NFL is busy working hard off the field, but what Dak has figured out is how to be productive in his preparation and not just busy working hard at things that may not be relevant to his success. Forget my earlier Taj Boyd comparison, Dak looks like an early 2000’s version of Steve McNair. His development paired with Zeke’s energy and physical gifts have created the perfect youth movement in Dallas.
Dak's poise and patience in the pocket has been superb, but he's also received outstanding blocking from his dominant offensive line. His 7:1 touchdown to interception ratio this season is insane for any quarterback, not to mention a rookie. Photo Courtesy: Ian Halperin/UPI
Dak and Zeke have taken the NFL by storm behind the league’s best offensive line and led Dallas to five straight wins going into the team’s bye week. Zeke is the NFL’s leading rusher and has set an NFL rookie record with four consecutive games over 130 yards rushing, he also has seven runs of 20+ yards or more which leads the NFL as well. To put things in perspective of how dominant of a season Zeke is having, he is averaging 117 yards rushing per game, the next closest player in the NFL is LeSean McCoy at 97 yards per game. The rookie runner is on pace for over 1,850 yards which would be an even more productive season than 2014 Offensive MVP DeMarco Murray. No rookie had higher expectations heading into the season than Zeke and he’s exceeding them. Dak is going to get some Rookie of the Year votes, but Zeke is in the thick of the MVP race. It may sound ridiculous to say this about a rookie running back who’s only 21 years old, but his numbers and impact on this Cowboys team have been special. He carries himself with a superstar glow, but he’s been quick to give credit to his teammates, especially his monster offensive line. Whether you’re Team Romo or Team Dak, Zeke will be the focal point of the offense no matter who’s under center. (If you want to know my thoughts on the Romo vs. Dak QB controversy, please checkout Nick Wright’s comments on Colin Cowherd’s show this past week. I agree with everything he said and I couldn’t have articulated it better myself.) I’ve never seen a running back this young with the ability to be a breakaway threat, run with power, juke a defender in the open field, hurdle a defender in the open field, run in short yardage situations, catch the ball out of the backfield, lineup at receiver, and provide A+ pass blocking which is something almost all rookies struggle with. The only thing that Zeke has struggled with is ball security and moving too fast before blocks develop. Keep in mind he’s probably corrected both of those things as it has not been an issue since Week 2. No other current offensive player in the league is also helping along his defense by soaking up time of possession the way Zeke has done in the first six games. We knew he would be good in year one, but did anyone think he would be the best back in the league year one?
As a Cowboys fan, this has been the funnest and most enjoyable season since our 13-3 campaign in 2007. In terms of hope and long term excitement, I’ve never had this feeling in my lifetime. Maybe this is what Cowboys fans who were around in 1990-91 felt like when they started seeing the young pieces come together for a future dynasty. I understand that our defense is playing way over their heads right now, (See: Mo Claiborne and JJ Wilcox) but that energy is coming from Dak and Zeke. Those guys are so exciting to be around that it’s made football fun again in Dallas. I would be remised if I didn’t give credit to Jerry and Stephen Jones for putting together an outstanding draft. Picking an MVP candidate in the first round, a future franchise QB in the 4th round, and even picking an underrated physical specimen at corner in Anthony Brown who is one of the leading tacklers on the team in the 5th round. Those are the type of picks that build a real foundation and help a team ascend to the Super Bowl contender level. I also give our front office credit for getting better at admitting their mistakes and moving on. They thought anyone could run behind our offensive line and decided not to resign Murray after the 2014 season. They were humbled by watching Joseph Randle fumble repeatedly and run with zero power before he was kicked out of the league in disgrace. McFadden who was more talented than Randle, took over and was very productive at the end of last season. The front office learned that if we can get this kind of production from a good back (McFadden) behind our offensive line, we can be special with a great back (Zeke) working with the same group. (Sidenote: I’ve always despised Joseph Randle going back to his Oklahoma State days. I had no clue that he was a criminal in the mold of the bad guys from the Home Alone movies, but I’ll never forget his “meat on the bone” comment about DeMarco and thinking that this guy is an asshole. He better run for 2,000 yards this season! Now he goes down in the Sam Hurd and Troy Hambrick category of disgraced criminal Cowboys.) Nobody has been more critical of Jerry Jones than myself, but he’s learned to lean on his advisors and scouts to make sound football decisions and those seeds are beginning to turn a harvest.
Zeke got to show off his breakaway wheels in the victory over a Bengals team that had prided themselves on shutting down the run coming into the game. Zeke finished with 134 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries in Week 6. Photo Courtesy: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
As for the “real” Cowboys fans, (when you’re America’s Team there’s a lot of folks who jump on and off the bandwagon so I have to say real Cowboys fans. With great power comes great responsibility.) We need to sit back and enjoy what we’re watching because this is extremely rare. Right now we seem to be in three different camps.
1. The Romosexuals – These are the fans who would inject Tony back into the starting lineup the minute he comes back from injury. Bless their souls as they love Romo so much. These people are often the most emotional Cowboys fans for better or worse. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to enjoy this run because they’re too busy defending why Romo should get his job back. They’ve been Romo apologists for 10 years and believe he’s never been given a fair shake by the media. Some of them are even upset at the praise that Dak has received and almost seem jealous by it. If you’ve seen a Cowboys fan say, “Dak is good, but he’s dinking and dunking down the field, we could open the offense up more downfield with Romo.” Or even, “We would be 6-0 with Romo, or Romo would’ve pulled out that Giants game." That person is probably a Romosexual. Romo's arm strength has been an issue for the last 3-4 years. He's created his big downfield plays on broken plays where he's moved around with his legs before hitting someone downfield for a big play when coverage has been compromised. Romo has always been great at that, but he's never sat in the pocket and pushed the ball deep down field on a consistent basis. Romo has struggled mightly on such throws, much of it due to his injuries and detoriating body. On the flip side, Dak has displayed better arm strength on downfield throws in my eyes. He's been surgical on his throws of 15-25 yards, so the dink and dunk arguement is laughable. My other question is since Dez has been out the last three games, who exactly should he be pushing the ball downfield to? Our personel is solid, but we don't have burners like Will Fuller V or DeSean Jaskson to consistently stretch the defense. I know that 50 yard bomb that hit Brice Butler in the chest for a drop in the Green Bay game scared The Romosexuals. Its ok, these fans love the Cowboys, but their 24/7/365 defense of Romo is clouding their judgement and they don’t realize Romo is an injury prone 36 year old quarterback with a bad back and metal plates holding his clavicle together.
2. The Rationals– I consider myself a part of this group. To be fair to my fellow Cowboys fans, most of us are probably in this group. We’re trying to sit back and just enjoy what we’re watching, but we’re also kind of in disbelief that this is happening. Many of us aren’t used to seeing the Cowboys grab a lead earlier and secure victory with competent play in all three phases of the game. Even in the successful Romo days, we have always been used to sweating out every game and having no clue how we could either meltdown or come up with a miraculous victory at the legs and arm of Romo. We know Romo has never been perfect and we’ve gone back in forth with our love and frustrations with his play, but we’ve always been thankful for what he’s done. We have the perspective to realize how bad things were at the quarterback position in the Pre-Romo Post Aikman era. With that being said, we recognize this team has gelled with Dak and nothing should disrupt the chemistry that has been developed. We see the Broncos didn’t automatically insert Peyton Manning back into the starting lineup when he was healthy because Brock Osweiler was playing relatively well at the time. Once things got over Brock’s head, Peyton was ready in the bullpen to save the day and help them win a Super Bowl. We see that Dak has been even more productive than Osweiler was last year and if Peyton can wait his turn then so can Romo. Us wanting to stick with Dak for the time being doesn’t mean we’re anti-Romo or disloyal, we just want to ride the hot hand.
(BTW, every Cowboys fan thinks they’re in the Rationals group but we all know that’s not the case.)
3. The Romocynics – These are the fans who hate Tony Romo as much as the Romosexuals love him. What’s so fascinating about our fanbase are the arguments and discontent between The Romosexuals and The Romocynics. I typically find that these are the most negative Cowboys fans and equally hate Jerry Jones, failing to separate his role as the GM from his role as the owner of the team. They criticize every draft pick and only talk about the players we missed on. Some of them were upset that we drafted Zack Martin, instead of Johnny Manziel. These people wanted to start Kyle Orton or even Jon Kitna over Romo. They only see his flaws as player and none of his greatest attributes. They blame Romo for all of the Cowboys on-field failures and often the reference his fumbled snap as a holder or his lack of playoff wins to make their arguments. They were real quiet when the team lost 11 of 12 games without Romo and do not acknowledge Romo for keeping the Cowboys above .500 for the last 10 years despite subpar talent around him for much of it. The Romocynics are feeling some sort of vindication with the success of Dak and more importantly in the absence of Romo. These are the guys going on social media and various message boards advocating that we should trade Romo this season. Ultimately, these guys are equally as miserable as The Romosexuals, but for the opposite reason. They’re having trouble enjoying the Cowboys current run because they’re worried about Romo coming back.
My buddy who is also a diehard Cowboys fan and considers himself a member of the Rationals group says there’s a small faction of fans who form the fourth group called The Dezbians. They think Dez is the best receiver in the league and they’re upset when we don’t force feed him the ball. Basically they’re like The Romosexuals in being total apologists for their guy.
Tony Romo has been an outstanding teammate and an extra coach on the sidelines through Dak's development this season. Photo Courtesy: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
My message to all Cowboys fans, especially the Romosexuals and the Romocynics is to sit back and enjoy this season while it’s here. We’ve had five great Sundays in a row and it’s not often as Cowboys fans over the last 20 years that we’ve been able to say that. Tony Romo deserves credit for remaining engaged with his teammates on the sidelines and especially helping Dak feel comfortable by being a mentor to him, instead of giving him a cold shoulder like so many other veteran quarterbacks have done in the past when threatened by a younger player. Let’s be appreciative of this young nucleus we have between our offensive line and backfield watching them grow together into a devastating unit for opposing teams. I have faith that Jerry will leverage our head coach Jason Garrett to make the right decision regarding who should be under center, because ultimately it should be his decision and his alone to make as the head coach and leader of the locker room. Bottom line, enjoy each and every win and have faith in the process.
