Cowboys final 53-man roster prediction after preseason

The Dallas Cowboys wrapped up the preseason with a win against the Las Vegas Raiders and had an interesting twist to this one. After spending much of the offseason claiming they wanted Dak Prescott to be more involved in the offense, they decided to prove their commitment to this strategy by having him call plays during the finale.

Prescott fared well as the offense moved the ball with ease on the ground as well as through the air. They even had their best outing of the preseason from Will Grier who finished with 305 yards passing and two touchdowns as well as 53 yards on the ground with two more scores.

That won't be enough for him to save his job following the Trey Lance trade but he put some great tape out there for any team in need of a backup signal-caller.

With that recap out of the way, let's turn the attention to the 53 man roster with this final prediction ahead of Week 1.

Quarterback (3):

Dak Prescott
Cooper Rush
Trey Lance

The Cowboys shocked everyone on Friday when they pulled the trigger on a trade for Trey Lance. The former No. 3 overall pick lost his starting job to Brock Purdy last year and couldn't beat out Sam Darnold for the No. 2 spot in San Francisco.

Dallas was initially being mocked for making the trade (what else is new) but it's a low-risk investment and we learned quickly there were others bidding for Lance. This front office had a second-round grade on Lance and if he turns into a solid backup, that's well worth a fourth-round pick. If not, well, more fourth-round picks turn out to be busts — Dak Prescott and Tony Pollard are the exceptions, not the rule.

While Lance does have some upside, he won't beat out Cooper Rush this season. He could wind up pushing him out next season though. But for now, the Cowboys go with three quarterbacks overall.

Having said all of this, the hope in 2023 will be that they don't need any of their backups. Prescott, who missed five games in 2022, is the leader of this franchise and they need him to be healthy in order to have a shot at unseating the Eagles in the NFC East.