Playing quarterback in the NFL is hard. Playing quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, it could be argued, ups the degree of difficulty even more.
The ghosts of Meredith, Staubach, Aikman, Romo, and others might as well be in the huddle when a signal-caller makes his first professional start for America’s Team. And that’s the kind of thing that was running through Ben DiNucci’s mind on November 1st of last year as he was announced as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback in Week 8 in Philadelphia.
“It was a surreal moment for me,” DiNucci reflected, via the team’s official website. “That’s something I’ll be able to say for the rest of my life: ‘Hey, I started a game for the Dallas Cowboys my rookie year.'”
The rest of that night, though, was largely forgettable for the rookie. DiNucci went just 21-for-40 for 180 passing yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown or an interception, but he also didn’t make a strong impression in the 23-9 loss. His first start was a whirlwind that left the small-school rookie wondering what had happened.
“I feel like that wasn’t me out there.”
He wasn’t out there again. The third-stringer, who had come on in relief of the concussed Andy Dalton (who was, of course, subbing for the injured Dak Prescott), was back on the sideline the following week. Garrett Gilbert was signed off Cleveland’s practice squad and given the nod in Week 9 versus Pittsburgh.
Many fans were ready to dismiss DiNucci as a bust after a total of just 94 snaps in his rookie season. But that’s about 90 more than anyone in the Cowboys organization could have anticipated when they drafted him in the seventh round out of James Madison.
The 24-year-old may have been thrown in to the fire in a division-rivalry game in a hostile environment, but he says he got more used to the heat as the evening wore on.
“But I think just some positives for me, as you watched the game progress, I felt like I got a little more comfortable every quarter. Just some things, when the checkdown is there, take the checkdown, a positive play is a good play, no negative plays, just throwing the ball out of bounds when guys aren’t open. Just things that come with playing.”
Just playing wasn’t as easy as it should have been for DiNucci- or anyone- in 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic turning his entire rookie offseason into a virtual Zoom class, DiNucci never even got onto the football field with his Cowboys teammates until August’s abbreviated training camp.
So forgive the sophomore if he’s treating 2021 like it’s really his first time.
“It’ll be nice to have preseason this year just to kind of be able to get back in the flow of games, play in games and get out there and show what I can do.”
For what it’s worth, what DiNucci showed in his first start wasn’t even wildly different from the norm. Here’s a look at every quarterback who made his first NFL start as a member of the Cowboys over the past 20 seasons.
| Player, date of 1st NFL start | Comp | Att | Yds | TD | INT | Result |
| Anthony Wright, 12/17/2000 vs NYG | 13 | 25 | 119 | 0 | 1 | L, 13-17 |
| Quincy Carter, 9/9/2001 vs TB | 9 | 19 | 34 | 0 | 2 | L, 6-10 |
| Clint Stoerner, 10/28/2001 vs ARZ | 9 | 19 | 93 | 0 | 1 | W, 17-3 |
| Chad Hutchinson, 10/27/2002 vs SEA | 12 | 24 | 145 | 1 | 0 | L, 14-17 |
| Drew Henson, 11/25/2004 vs CHI | 4 | 12 | 31 | 0 | 1 | W, 21-7 |
| Tony Romo, 10/29/2006 at CAR | 24 | 36 | 270 | 1 | 1 | W, 35-14 |
| Stephen McGee, 1/2/2011 at PHI | 11 | 27 | 127 | 1 | 0 | W, 14-13 |
| Kellen Moore, 12/27/2015 at BUF | 13 | 31 | 186 | 0 | 1 | L, 6-16 |
| Dak Prescott, 9/11/2016 vs NYG | 25 | 45 | 227 | 0 | 0 | L, 19-20 |
| Ben DiNucci, 11/1/2020 at PHI | 21 | 40 | 180 | 0 | 0 | L, 9-23 |
| Garrett Gilbert, 11/8/2020 vs PIT | 21 | 38 | 243 | 1 | 1 | L, 19-24 |
Not much rhyme or reason there. Some forgettable names walked off the field winners in their first start; the club’s current superstar and offensive mastermind both lost theirs. Romo’s first start was a good performance, but he had logged three training camps and two full seasons with the team prior. Prescott was thrown to the wolves as a rookie in Week 1 and didn’t exactly light it up in his first start. Even Gilbert, who many crowned as an immediate and obvious upgrade over DiNucci, didn’t post stats that were exponentially better.
The point is, it’s difficult- and historically speaking, premature- to write off DiNucci based solely on the basis of that Eagles game.
“Yeah, I think last year was weird, and being a rookie I think that was just kind of all that we knew,” DiNucci said during this year’s minicamp. “So this is really nice just getting in here and getting some reps, get comfortable going into camp and just kind of getting my feet on the ground. It’s a lot better when you’ve got guys around to bounce things off each other. It’s nice to be in the building and see faces and get out and practice a little bit.”
With a little more of that practice, a true offseason program, and some playing time under his belt, Cowboys coaches and fans may be able to more accurately gauge whether DiNucci belongs in the same breath with Stoerner and McGee… or Romo and Prescott.
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