The Dallas Cowboys hiring Brian Schottenheimer as head coach was met with a cavalcade of backlash. While Schottenheimer has a lot to prove before Cowboys fans fully buy in, the early returns have been overwhelming positive based on the coaching staff he's put together.
It also can't be understated that Schottenheimer has a close relationship with Dak Prescott. Schottenheimer taking over play-calling means Prescott won't have to learn an entirely new offense going into his age-32 season. That overall continuity is very important.
While Schottenheimer's scheme might have some similarities to that of Mike McCarthy, it is exciting to ponder the new wrinkles Schotty will implement. It goes without saying the Cowboys' offense needs a refresh.
Well, Prescott caught up with the media at the Children's Cancer Fund Gala on Tuesday and teased that Schottenheimer will make an overdue change to the offense.
Dak Prescott hints at major chance to Cowboys' offense under Brian Schottenheimer
"We just got to get to running the ball, being a little bit more consistent on that. Then from there go back and look at the numbers, I've always enjoyed play action pass or just being able to get back to that, but you've got to start with the run game, and when you have that, the rest of the offense can open up."Cowboys QB Dak Prescot
More play-action you say? That is music to the ears of Cowboys fans.
With Mike McCarthy calling the offense, Dallas ranked below averaged in play-action rate as well as dropback motion and shift rate in 2024. Care to guess which teams ranked near the Cowboys? Outside of the Buccaneers, who were the one outlier, there's the Giants, Panthers, Jaguars, Bears, Browns, Patriots and Titans. In other words, some of the worst offenses in football.
It's well-documented that Prescott is most comfortable operating out of shotgun, which limits an offenses ability to muddy the picture for defenses with pre-snap motion, shifting and play-action. Some of the NFL's best offenses deploy those concepts at a high rate.
What is so puzzling about McCarthy's refusal to use play-action is Prescott has been absolutely prolific in play-action throughout his career. According to Tommy Yarrish of the team's official website, Prescott has thrown for 8,524 yards and 55 touchdowns to just 13 interceptions in play-action for his career while completing 67% of his passes.
That is a massive sample size and begs the question of why McCarthy essentially abandoned play action this past season.
The good news? Schottenheimer is fully committed to being a run-first offense. That is the first step to effectively running play-action. Prescott would obviously reap the benefits of that.