Dak Prescott 2022 stat predictions: Cowboys QB back in MVP talks

The Dallas Cowboys are entering the 2022 season with a roster full of questions. Who will step up to replace Randy Gregory? Will Ezekiel Elliott still be on the team after this season? Who will be the team’s starter across Trevon Diggs? In an offseason that provided more questions than answers, one thing is for certain: quarterback Dak Prescott is ready to go.

Over the 2021 offseason, things were looking up for America’s quarterback after his broken ankle in 2020. However, in July, he was diagnosed with a strain in his throwing shoulder, which carried on into the Cowboys’ season. Despite the strain, he played well, producing 1,813 passing yards and 16 touchdowns on a 73.1% completion percentage over six games.

Then, the injury bug hit again. During Week 6 against the New England Patriots, Prescott went down with a right calf strain. The former fourth-round pick would miss just one game before making an ugly return against the Denver Broncos in Week 9 where he completed just 48.7% of his passes. It was clear Prescott was not fully healthy, and that was the case for the rest of the season.

Although injuries were prevalent during his 2021 season, the Cowboys QB still put up big numbers, finishing among the league leaders in passer rating (3rd), completion percentage (4th), passing touchdowns (T-4th), and passing yards (7th). With the whole offseason to recover, Prescott is ensuring everyone that he feels 100% and that he is “much further along than (he) was last year at this time”.

Predicting what Cowboys QB Dak Prescott’s stats will be in 2022 coming off a fully healthy offseason

With Prescott looking like he’s in the best shape of his career, he may be set to have a career year with a plethora of weapons at his disposal. Not only will the Pro Bowl signal-caller be healthy, but RB1-A Ezekiel Elliott will be at 100% as well. The breakout of RB1-B Tony Pollard, the rise of wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, the return of receiver Michael Gallup, the stability of TE Dalton Schultz, and the additions of James Washington and Jalen Tolbert should be huge pluses for No. 4 as well.

But what will the numbers be? For this stat prediction, I will go through and predict Dak’s stats for each game and come up with a cumulative stat line at the end. This will be the beginning of a series where I will predict many Cowboy players’ season stats. Receivers will also be dependent on Prescott’s stats, so their numbers will be predicted in contingence to Prescott’s performance.