It doesn’t take much for Chris Russo to lose his mind. But man, did Stephen A. Smith touch a nerve last February. Russo raised the stakes in a debate over whether Dak Prescott was holding the Dallas Cowboys back.
“Life on the line,” Russo prompted, “do you think [Dak is] better than Kirk Cousins?”
The Mad Dog was fired up. Sports talk in February, man. The San Francisco 49ers had eliminated the Cowboys a month before this segment; the Green Bay Packers ended the Minnesota Vikings season in early January.
Dog was convinced Kirk was better than Cousins. Stephen A.? Not so much.
At first blush, the argument seems insane. Of course, Dak is better than Kirk. He plays on America’s Team! He slings it all over the field! Prescott threw for 4,449 yards a year after a gruesome ankle injury!
It’s not just Stephen A. and the Mad Dog having this conversation, though. Bill Simmons and Peter Schrager had a difference of opinion on Simmons’ July 8 podcast.
“Dak Prescott and Kirk Cousins…have the exact same stats. They have the exact same career resumé,” said Simmons. “To me, there is no difference to me – other than that one plays for a famous team, and the other plays for a famously tragic team.”
“I’m gonna say more on the balance of Dak, knowing how he’s respected around the league,” Schrager countered. “If you talk to these GMs and coaches, they all put Dak in these conversations. There are very few skeptics on Dak.
“Cousins can go here or there. But within the league, Dak is looked at not only as a more reliable quarterback than Cousins, not only that guy that can win you games but also in the building, that leader, that unquestioned leader.”
As Schrager says, experts felt Prescott was a cut above Cousins. Before last season, The Athletic‘s Mike Sando asked 50 insiders to divide each starting quarterback into five tiers. He sought the opinions of:
- Seven general managers
- Five head coaches
- 11 coordinators
- 15 executives
- Seven quarterback coaches
- And five others working in front offices or coaching capacities
Prescott landed in the second tier, tied for ninth with Justin Herbert. Lamar Jackson and Matthew Stafford were tied for seventh ahead of them; Matt Ryan was 11th behind Prescott and Herbert.
Cousins? Sando’s voters named him the 18th-best quarterback. They placed him securely behind Baker Mayfield and Ben Roethlisberger but ahead of Jared Goff and Carson Wentz in Tier 3.
However, you have to imagine those rankings have changed significantly. Roethlisberger has retired. Mayfield is battling Sam Darnold for the Carolina Panthers’ QB1 spot. Sando’s experts had Joe Burrow at 14, and now he might be Tier 1 or high Tier 2. Goff is a placeholder in Detroit, and the Indianapolis Colts offloaded Wentz after one season.
Conversely, there is no way that anyone sees Prescott and Herbert on the same level now. Ryan probably stays where he is on this list, but Kyler Murray (No. 12) probably ascends while Ryan Tannehill (13) gets placed lower.
Cousins probably stays in Tier 3 with quarterbacks like Derek Carr, Jimmy Garroppolo, and Wentz. But is it wrong to think that Prescott joins them?
Kirk and Dak are more similar than you may think. Below are their career stats. Cousins is entering his 11th season (fifth with Minnesota); Prescott is entering his seventh.
Let’s isolate the last three years.
How about in the playoffs?
There are some caveats here. Cousins’ postseason numbers are weighed down by a 3/10, 31-yard performance he had as a rookie backup in 2012. Take that game out, and Cousins’ playoff completion percentage jumps to 66.7. His quarterback rating increases to 90.6. Cousins also didn’t battle a horrifying ankle injury, which alters Prescott’s stats the last three years.
But Cousins and Prescott are pretty similar quarterbacks. Both are fourth-rounders who some experts feel are overpaid. Cousins played for Mike Zimmer, a defense-first coach who never was entirely sold on him. Prescott plays for Mike McCarthy, who the Green Bay Packers fired because he wasn’t maximizing Aaron Rodgers.
Prescott has arguably played for the better team. In 2019, Cousins beat Dak and the Cowboys on the road in primetime. But Dallas won the last two games in Minneapolis, including last year’s Sunday Night game that Cooper Rush started.
Still, the difference is marginal. The more significant point is that Cousins should have the advantage this year. He’s playing for Kevin O’Connell now, a better coach who believes in him. Because of O’Connell’s illusion of complexity, Cousins should find his receivers open downfield. He should also be operating with a clear mind because everything will be laid out for him.
Are the Vikings in good hands if Cousins can play as well or better than Prescott? They should be. They will be operating in a modern offense, and Cousins will have Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, and a healthy Irv Smith Jr. at his disposal. We’ll find out soon enough, though. Camp opens in August, and the Cowboys will be in town for a 3:25 p.m. game on Nov. 20.
