Analyzing Dak Prescott’s game and Alex Smith’s future

The NFC East is lush with intriguing story lines surrounding their quarterbacks. Carson Wentz is battling narratives about his mobility, Eli Manning is in his twilight without a clear successor, Dak Prescott is a different quarterback from snap-to-snap, and Alex Smith’s career is in serious jeopardy.

Dealing with Dak first, Mark Schofield and I broke down his game on The QB Scho Show #5. It was our second pass on Dak this season as we analyzed him prior to the Week 10 matchup. Since the acquisition of Amari Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys have found increased success in the passing game.

Dak Prescott Before Amari Cooper (Weeks 1-8):

62%, 6.9 Y/A, 8 TD, 4 INT, 87.1 QB Rating

Dak Prescott After Amari Cooper (Weeks 9-13):

73%, 8.0 Y/A, 6 TD, 1 INT, 106 QB Rating

Using The Quant Edge tools that detail when Cooper is in the game against his snaps out of the game, the impact in the passing game is clear.

Despite the uptick in success, Dak’s flaws still pop up at extremely inopportune times. This includes inviting sacks that lead to ball security issues. This wart in his game nearly cost the Cowboys’ their Week 13 win over the New Orleans Saints after he lost a fumble that put the Saints in a position to potentially win or tie the game. We detail that play on The QB Scho Show to find out what went wrong.

Also on the show, I talked with Mark Bullock of The Athletic DC to talk about what’s going on with the Washington Redskins. We look back to the Eagles 28-13 win, but then shift our focus to the injury-riddled Redskins and their future. Bullock spoke on the questionable future of Alex Smith being able to return to football, noting the radio silence on the matter from the organization and Smith himself. After we spoke, this troubling story broke:

Soon after, this report was confirmed.

It’s a story worthy of tracking closely as it could lead to the Redskins needing a quarterback during the offseason. This puts them in a bad spot as they’ve won too many games with Smith in what looks like a lost season to have a high draft pick. This means they’ll either have to acquire a rehash or trade up in the 2019 NFL Draft. Of course, the hope is that Smith recovers and none of that will be necessary.

We cover all this and more on The QB Scho Show #5! Stream it on the media player below or click here if the player doesn’t load. FLY EAGLES FLY!