Dak Prescott Deserves His Flowers-And Chad Ochocinco’s Giving Them
For years, Dallas Cowboys fans have been locked in a seemingly never-ending debate: *Is Dak Prescott really a top-tier quarterback? * The conversation has been loud, polarizing, and often unfair.
But after the 2025 season, it’s getting harder to deny what’s been right in front of us-Prescott isn’t the Cowboys’ problem. In fact, he’s been their lifeline.
Let’s start with the obvious: Dallas went 7-9 this season. That record, on its face, doesn’t scream “elite quarterback play.”
But football isn’t played in a vacuum, and anyone who watched the Cowboys this year knows that Prescott was dragging a flawed roster-particularly a defense that couldn’t stop a nosebleed-through the mud just to keep them competitive. In a different situation, with even an average defense behind him, this could’ve been a 10- or 11-win team.
Maybe more.
Prescott’s individual performance told a very different story than the team’s final record. He played smart, efficient, and, at times, downright inspired football. He made throws that only a handful of quarterbacks can make, extended plays with his legs, and kept the offense humming despite injuries and inconsistency around him.
And he’s starting to get some overdue recognition-most recently from former All-Pro wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, who didn’t mince words when he appeared on the All City DLLS podcast.
“Dak is a great quarterback,” Ochocinco said. “When we talk about some of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, Dak's name should be mentioned. Every time you talk about quarterbacks and having a chance and always being in contention, Dak is in the conversation.”
Ochocinco didn’t stop there. He pointed out what Cowboys fans have been saying all along: the problem isn’t under center-it’s on the other side of the ball.
“Now, there's problems on the defensive side of the ball. Once you address that, it makes the job easy.”
Hard to argue with that. The Cowboys' defense in 2025 was a far cry from the unit that once looked like a championship-caliber group. They gave up big plays, couldn’t get off the field on third down, and left Prescott and the offense with razor-thin margins to work with week after week.
Still, Prescott delivered. Over his last two healthy seasons, he’s thrown 66 touchdowns to just 19 interceptions while averaging nearly 267 passing yards per game. That’s not just solid-it’s franchise-quarterback stuff.
Dig deeper into the analytics, and it gets even more impressive. From 2020 to 2025, Prescott ranks sixth among all quarterbacks in Expected Points Added (EPA) per play at 0.164, according to RBSM.
And when you filter for quarterbacks with at least 2,000 snaps-essentially removing guys who haven’t had to carry the full-season load-Prescott climbs to third. That’s ahead of names like Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Matthew Stafford, and Justin Herbert.
That kind of production doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of years of development, consistency, and command of the position.
Prescott may not be in the same stratosphere as Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen-few are-but he’s firmly in that next tier. And if you’ve got a guy in that tier, you’ve got a real shot every year.
Of course, the playoff narrative still looms. It’s the one thing critics cling to when trying to discredit Prescott’s standing.
And yes, postseason success matters. Legacy matters.
But reducing a quarterback’s value to playoff wins alone ignores the bigger picture. Football is the ultimate team sport.
Quarterbacks don’t win or lose games by themselves, and Prescott’s lack of a deep playoff run doesn’t erase the elite-level production he’s put up over the years.
This isn’t about making excuses-it’s about context. Prescott hasn’t been perfect in the postseason, but neither have most of the league’s top quarterbacks before their breakthrough moments. The idea that only Super Bowl winners deserve elite status is a tired, narrow way of evaluating talent.
Two things can be true at once: Prescott hasn’t had the playoff success fans are desperate for, and he’s one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. That’s not spin-it’s reality.
So when someone like Chad Ochocinco speaks up and puts some respect on Prescott’s name, it’s worth listening. Because if the Cowboys can fix the issues on defense and give Dak the support he needs, he’s already shown he can do the rest.