Poor Cooper Rush. Of the three quarterbacks on the Cowboys roster in 2024, Rush has what appears to be the smallest fan following. Dak Prescott, the unquestioned starter, rightfully commands most of the fan attention in Dallas. Prescott’s coming off an MVP-caliber performance in 2023 and playing the best ball of his career. He’s a homegrown talent with a legion of fans.
Behind Prescott on the Fan-Support-O-Meter is Trey Lance. Lance, by most accounts third in the QB pecking order, has his fair share of supporters as well. The former No. 3 overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft is a supremely talented and a supremely untested developmental prospect. His ceiling is through the roof. Fans love his potential even if it’s just wishful thinking at this point.
Rush, sandwiched between the two QBs on the depth chart, is the forgotten man these days in Dallas. The 30-year-old has played with the Cowboys for seven seasons. During that time, he’s posted a winning record as a replacement starter, most notably going 4-1 in 2022 while Prescott recovered from an early-season injury.
Rush doesn’t have the flash or pizazz of the other two passers, nor does he have the draft pedigree or ceiling of them. What he has is a steady baseline, and that baseline could prove extremely valuable in coming months.
#Cowboys Trey Lance back to work with his offseason position coach, @J_ChristensenQB 🤟
(🎥: @ThrowItDeep on IG) pic.twitter.com/fagjClawxf
— Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite) June 9, 2024
It’s not always easy to see greatness in practices or even training camp. Teams sometimes see what they want to see and make poor evaluations in the process. Lance’s offseason workouts have already resulted in mixed reviews. Some are touting his offseason as a success. Others are lukewarm on the situation. Training camp will be the real chance to get a good look at Lance’s development but even then, things will need to stay in perspective.
Comparing Lance side-by-side to Prescott in Oxnard this summer isn’t going to do him or evaluators many favors. On one side there’s a QB who hasn’t even been able to secure the backup job. On the other side there’s a league MVP runner-up. Side-by-side with Rush, on the other hand, could prove extremely useful in gauging Lance’s development.
Rush fully qualifies as someone with “he is what he is” status. He’s been playing long enough and posted consistent results often enough to be seen as a bona fide QB2 in the NFL. He’s not good enough to push for a starting spot but he’s clearly capable of winning games in relief, provided he plays within himself. It makes him an excellent measuring stick alongside Lance.
Rush doesn’t have great arm talent, but he has a full grasp of the offense and can make most of the throws it demands. Comparing Lance to Rush on intermediate-to-deep out-breaking patterns and various hitch routes should technically favor Lance. But Lance’s timing and ability to release quickly could hold him back in these situations since that’s an area where Rush is efficient.
Touch passes such as screens and fades have less to do with physical ability and more to do with feel for the game and timing. Again, this is an area where Rush will serve as the measuring stick by which Lance will be judged.
Preseason games will be a great area of comparison for the two as well. Lance’s running ability in both scrambles and rollouts will be put to the test against Rush’s pocket presence. The live action should offer a better stage to flash for Lance since broken plays are rarely appreciated in practice and broken plays are somewhere Lance holds a decisive advantage over Rush.
How the two players look side by side will be important for the Cowboys evaluation of Lance. If he can show growth in areas where Rush thrives, like timing, touch and decisiveness, he’ll likely be the clear No. 2 and on track to possibly fulfill his potential. But if he still struggles in those areas it will threaten to negate any physical advantages he brings to the table. This could potentially result in his hype train will likely coming to an abrupt stop.
Having two extremely different QBs like Rush and Lance competing doesn’t mean they can’t be compared side by side. For Lance’s evaluation it’s actually perfect.
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