Dak Prescott Can Learn a Lot from Great Rookie Quarterbacks of the Past

It’s easy to see a little of Tom Brady in Dak Prescott. Like Brady before him, Prescott replaced an injured big-name veteran and promptly stapled him to the bench, reinvigorating his franchise with an unanticipated playoff run that, in Brady’s case, has lasted 15 years.

Brady, like Prescott, was unheralded and physically unimposing, starting out as a humble product of the system before redefining, perfecting and eventually transcending the system.

Brady was a second-year pro, not a rookie, when he took over the Patriots. He was not as pedigreed a collegiate prospect as Prescott. His first-season statistics and regular-season accomplishments were no match for what Prescott has done so far. So when you think about it, Prescott is an even better version of Tom Brady who should win six or seven Super Bowls in the next decade.

That, as they say, escalated quickly. Let’s downshift for a moment.

A Prescott-Russell Wilson comparison is obvious: overlooked prospects with ordinary measurables but extraordinary intangibles, mid-round picks of whom little was expected, wise-beyond-their-years young decision-makers who never played like rookies. Wilson endured a rough patch midway through his rookie season, but Prescott appears immune to rough patches. So it stands to reason that the Cowboys will win at least one Super Bowl, next year if not this year, and dominate the NFC for years to come.

Oops. Got carried away again. Let’s start over.

Prescott doesn’t quite resemble the rookie Ben Roethlisberger, though there are some key similarities. Big Ben left college as a giant, raw, bazooka-armed small-school product, resembling more of a Carson Wentz than the SEC-seasoned, midsized Prescott. But the results were similar. Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a 13-0 record as a starter in his rookie season.

The circumstances were also similar: Roethlisberger led a roster populated by Jerome Bettis, Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Alan Faneca and many others. The 2004 Steelers may end up sending five or six players to the Hall of Fame, including Roethlisberger.

Maybe we will look back at the 2016 Cowboys and see a half-dozen Hall of Famers. But that would be getting ahead of ourselves yet again. It’s the circumstances that matter. The Steelers were coming off a poor year when they drafted Roethlisberger, but they were a successful, stable organization not long removed from the playoffs, and there was talent all over the roster.

Wilson’s 2012 Seahawks and Brady’s 2001 Patriots were broadly similar. Both teams were a few years removed from playoff glory but still talented and well-run, renovating instead of rebuilding. The rookies joined talented rosters, just as Prescott has joined Jason Witten, Ezekiel Elliott, Dez Bryant and the Ploughboys of the offensive line. They were …

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