Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys: Lightning in a Bottle

As scouts and analysts continue to scratch their heads, it’s becoming clear that the Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott were simply a perfect match.

It’s the kind of story they’ll likely make a movie about one day. A late fourth round selection out of Mississippi State is given a rare opportunity to become the starting quarterback of America’s Team. And during his unprecedented rookie run, the unproven 23-year old exceeds all expectations becoming the NFL Rookie of the Year after leading a beloved franchise back to Super Bowl relevance.

Can’t you just see the yet to be discovered actor portraying Dak Prescott on the movie poster? It’s a rags to riches-type story no major Hollywood motion picture studio can resist. It’s basically Rocky in a Dallas Cowboys uniform.

And as we head into yet another offseason, NFL scouts around the league have to be scratching their heads about the play of Prescott last season. As the 135th player chosen in last year’s NFL Draft, every team, including the Dallas Cowboys themselves, passed on the future Offensive Rookie of the Year winner several times.

MUST READ: Dak Prescott selected first overall in SI.com 2016 Re-Draft

In fact, a whopping seven other quarterbacks were selected prior to Prescott in the 2016 NFL Draft. Names like Christian Hackenberg, Connor Cook and Cody Kessler, whom are all likely destined for Sports Jeopardy question-level obscurity, were all chosen before the former Bulldog.

So why did scouts, analysts and draftniks get it so wrong when it came to their evaluation of Prescott’s potential as an NFL quarterback?

Prior to the draft, many pointed to Dak’s lack of play under center while at Mississippi State and poor accuracy as his biggest weaknesses. But during his first year in Dallas, Prescott seemed to play under center with ease. And his completion percentage of 67.8 was the fourth highest in the league, just a tick higher than New England quarterback Tom Brady.

According to one football analytical website, Prescott’s success in Dallas had a lot to do with the right player finding the perfect environment to excel. For all intents and purposes, it was a lightening in a bottle situation for Dak and the Cowboys.

"“The Cowboys’ scheme did a fantastic job of creating open receivers, and Prescott did an equally-fine job finding them,” wrote Steve Palazzolo on Pro Football Focus. “Our numbers backed up that Prescott would excel in the right situation with open windows to throw to, and Dallas gave him that opportunity…For now, Prescott’s breakout doesn’t look all that crazy when analyzing the area in which he excelled in college and the offense that he found himself in as a rookie.”"

Prescott showed tremendous growth in his game between his junior and senior years at Mississippi State. His completion percentage rose by nearly five points and his total interceptions dropped by more than half. That level of improvement actually continued when Prescott jumped to the NFL, which is unheard of.

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Everyone knew Dak Prescott was a high-character individual with an excellent work ethic and strong leadership skills. But no one believed he’d take the NFL by storm in 2016. I guess there are still some key attributes scouts, analysts and armchair draftniks will never be able to measure.