Is Dak Prescott just a placeholder for a pure pocket passer?

Heading into his third season, the 25-year old passer should be at the height of his powers. Prescott’s spent the past three years under the same head coach (Jason Garrett), with the same offensive coordinator (Scott Linehan), under the same system. Mentally, Dak should be at his best.

After three offseason training programs, Prescott’s passing mechanics should be better than ever. Inaccuracy should be at a minimum. He has two years of experience under his belt, so Dak should appear to be very comfortable in the pocket at this point.

Yet, Prescott’s play in Week One was a disaster. Sacked six times, underthrowing the ball, overthrowing the ball, playing scared in the pocket; you had to question whether Prescott improved at all this offseason.

Week Two, the Cowboys offense found success running Prescott more. Dallas utilized the threat of Dak’s legs, running the run-pass option (RPO) to perfection. And that threat opened up big plays both on the ground and through the air in the form of play action. But the Cowboys big win over the New York Giants on Sunday night did help confirm that Prescott is not a pure pocket passer … and will probably never be.

Even after three years in the league, accuracy issues and questionable field vision continue to plague Prescott. In fact, those issues may be getting worse as he continues to trend in the wrong direction.

Prescott tends to leave big plays on the table in favor of more conservative options or simply failing to see wide open receivers. And when he does recognize a big play opportunity, there’s a 50/50 chance he’s able to even compete the pass due to his continued bouts of inaccuracy.

And despite the team finding success in Week Two by utilizing Prescott as a running threat, Dallas is using this season to determine if they should make a longterm investment in Dak. And the shelf life for running quarterbacks in the NFL is historically very short.