3 gambles the Dallas Cowboys hope pay off in 2021

Backup quarterback by committee?

Last season, the Cowboys found a gem in three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Andy Dalton in free agency. Despite starting passer Dak Prescott having not missed a single game in his four seasons in Dallas, Dalton provided the team a tremendous amount of insurance as the league’s top backup quarterback.

And the Cowboys ended up needing Dalton after Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week Five against the New York Giants. In the end, Dalton started nine games for Dallas in 2020, winning four including three of the team’s final four contests of the year.

With Dalton now a member of the Chicago Bears via free agency, the Cowboys have elected to maintain a trio of inexperienced backups behind a semi-healthy Prescott on the quarterback depth chart. The threesome of Garrett Gilbert, Cooper Rush, and Ben DiNucci have a combined two NFL starts between them, and their play has been inconsistent in the preseason.

So much so, that there’s heavy speculation that the Cowboys could and should be searching for better backup options either on the waiver wire or in free agency with final cuts looming, scheduled for the end of this month.

The Cowboys took a gamble that they would be able to better develop their current set of backup quarterbacks during an offseason not plagued by a worldwide pandemic like the previous year. At this point, it appears they were wrong. And by waiting this long to address it, it’s a gamble they find a suitable backup that fans would feel comfortable can actually win ball games.

If the Dallas Cowboys choose to proceed with their current set of backup passers into the regular season, it would also be a huge gamble considering Dak Prescott is coming off both a season-ending leg injury and a recent muscle strain that has prevented him from playing in the preseason.