DALLAS — NFL analyst Steven Ruiz of FOX Sports believes Dallas Cowboys star Dak Prescott is in the “franchise carrier” QB tier.
Ruiz has Prescott in the same QB tier as Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers, Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, Drake Maye of the New England Patriots and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ruiz pushed back on the narrative that Prescott folds under pressure in the playoffs.
“The perception that the Cowboys quarterback is bad in the playoffs largely stems from two bad games against superior 49ers teams,” Ruiz wrote. “Fun fact: Prescott and noted playoff riser Jalen Hurts both average 0.07 expected points added per dropback in the postseason, but Prescott’s success rate is nearly 8 percentage points higher, per Next Gen Stats. He also clears Joe Burrow, another supposed postseason riser, in both stats. If we just focus on Prescott’s game, which is built on a mastery of the Cowboys offense and top-end timing, precision, and pocket presence – you know, all the hallmarks of great quarterbacking – his inclusion in this tier is a no-brainer.”
Prescott had his fourth 4,000-yard passing season in 2025. However, the Cowboys missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season. That wasn’t Prescott’s fault, though, as Dallas had the worst defense in the NFL.
As everyone who covers the NFL knows, Prescott has never guided Dallas to the promised land. However, he has the talent and pieces around him to accomplish that goal in 2026.
For the Cowboys last season, Prescott put up 4,552 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 177 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. The four-time Pro Bowler played in all 17 regular-season games, going 7-9-1 while completing 67.3% of his passes.
Prescott was ranked 31st on the NFL Top 100 Players list. The veteran was No. 79 in 2025. He went up 48 spots after his excellent 2025 season.
Prescott enters this season 83-55-1 in the regular season and 2-5 in the playoffs as Dallas’ starting quarterback. The 33-year-old understands how badly Cowboys fans want to celebrate a Super Bowl victory and he’s not shying away from those lofty goals.
The 2016 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Prescott wore a vintage T-shirt from the Cowboys’ last Super Bowl appearance — Super Bowl XXX in 1995 — when the team arrived in Oxnard, California, for training camp. It seems Prescott is trying to speak things into existence this year.
“We want stuff in life a lot of times, but then when people start talking about it, you kind of hesitate. ‘Should I say that if they’re going to hold me to it?'” Prescott said, via ESPN. “Well, absolutely. Playing in this organization, being in it 10 years, going into year 11, I’m not going to shy away from it. When you don’t have it, it sucks when you don’t get to play for it. When you’re watching other teams play in the playoffs, there’s nothing worse than that. And so, yeah, I said I’d be the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys when I was 6 years old and said I’d be in the NFL, and I got here. A lot of things in my life, I said I’d do and I did it. And so why shy away from that now? Why shy away from asking people to hold me to the same standard that I believe that I can accomplish and this team can accomplish?”
Prescott has 35,989 passing yards, 243 passing touchdowns, 2,115 rushing yards and 31 rushing touchdowns in the regular season and 1,962 passing yards, 14 passing touchdowns, 163 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in the playoffs. He’s one of the best QBs of his generation despite not having a Super Bowl ring.
Let’s see if that changes soon.
