Had the Dallas Cowboys made the playoffs this past season—or perhaps even just finished with a winning record, for that matter—one could easily assume that Dak Prescott would have been one of the five finalists for NFL MVP, as the 10-year veteran had one of the best overall seasons of his career.
With the 2025 season at an end following the Seattle Seahawks' Super Bowl 60 victory over the New England Patriots, fans and pundits alike have wasted little time offering up predictions for the 2026 season, and as part of a long list of projections put forth by ESPN's NFL crew, Matt Bowen has not only predicted Prescott to be a finalist for Most Valuable Player next season, but he's got him winning it.
The Worldwide Leader recently got 11 of its NFL experts together, with each predicting next February's Super Bowl 61 matchup as well as the MVP winner. And while none of the 11 had Dallas reaching the title game for the first time in more than three decades, Bowen did pick Prescott to win MVP.
"Prescott had more than 4,500 passing yards and threw 30 touchdowns this past season. With the Cowboys expected to retain wide receiver George Pickens, whom they will likely give the franchise tag, look for Prescott to produce high-level numbers again for a team that could challenge for the NFC East title in 2026 with an improved defense."
Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott should be a legit MVP candidate in 2026
Leading an offense that racked up the second-most total yards per game (391.9) and ranked seventh in scoring (27.7), Prescott completed 67.3 percent of his passes for 4,552 yards, with the latter figure representing the second-highest total of his career and the third-most in the NFL in 2025. His 30 touchdown passes also ranked fourth.
But as we all know, the Cowboys did not make the playoffs for the second straight season, nor did they finish with a winning record, ultimately ending the year at 7-9-1.
And the main reason America's Team failed to do either, of course, was rather obvious, as the Dallas defense was absolutely dreadful, ranking 30th in total yards allowed (377.0) and bringing up the rear in scoring, ranking dead last in 32nd by surrendering 30.1 points per game.
Bringing Pickens back on the franchise tag does seem to be the direction Dallas is headed toward, and that will undoubtedly help Prescott have another strong season.
But if the Cowboys don't get new defensive coordinator Christian Parker some upgrades on the defensive side of the football, it's simply going to be the same season all over again, with Prescott & Co. basically being forced to put up monster numbers for Dallas to have any chance of winning on a week-to-week basis.