Dak vs History: An Analytical view of the Cowboys' Franchise QB

With the Dak Prescott extension looming, there is no better time than now to measure him against the rest of the league. To do this we researched the performance of every notable drafted Quarterback in their first three seasons as a starter since 2000. Here are the results

The Criteria

We decided to base our study on a mixture of counting numbers (passing yards, passing touchdowns), team success (wins), and efficiency (passer rating). We totaled these stats as over the first three years for all 32 qualifying passers, ranked them in each category and added up their rankings in each category to come up with a total score. The scores are ranked in PGA format (lowest score is best) the results are as follows. 

Name	Passer Yards	Passing Touchdowns	Passer Rating 	Wins
Aaron Rodgers	12394	86	99.4	27
Andrew Luck	12957	86	86.7	33
Phillip Rivers	10549	77	93.3	33
Russell Wilson	9950	72	98.7	36
Dak Prescott	10876	67	96.0	32
Carson Palmer	10768	78	90.8	25
Tom Brady	10227	69	85.7	34
Derek Carr	11194	81	88.1	22
Andy Dalton	11360	80	85.5	20
Carson Wentz	10152	70	92.5	23
Matt Ryan	10061	66	86.6	33
Joe Flacco	10206	60	87.6	32
Jameis Winston	11636	69	87.3	18
Cam Newton	11299	64	86.5	25
Jared Goff	9581	65	94.7	24
Eli Manning	10342	71	75.6	29
Marc Bulger	9635	57	94.3	26
Matthew Stafford	12272	74	79.3	16
Ben Roethlisberger	8519	52	90.7	29
Blake Bortles	11241	69	78.8	11
Marcus Mariota	9476	58	88.8	20
Ryan Tannehill	11252	43	83.6	23
Chad Pennington	7932	51	92.7	20
Mark Sanchez	9209	55	72.2	27
Drew Brees	8550	55	83.1	21
Michael Vick	7723	45	77.6	27
Robert Griffin	8097	40	90.5	14
Alex Smith	7610	48	79.5	15
Sam Bradford	9378	45	76.6	15
Vince Young	6624	31	75.5	25
David Carr	8136	34	71.9	14
Jamarcus Russell	4083	18	65.2	7

What it means for Prescott

The big takeaway here is that the common assertion that Prescott lacks in statistical production may be a bit overblown. The Cowboys' star QB ranks in the top 15 in every category and is ranked 5th overall. That places him ahead of All-Time greats like Drew Brees , Tom Brady, and Ben Roethlisberger as well as contemporaries like Carson Wentz, and Jared Goff. 

This means that the assertion that Dak could be worth up to 30 million or more per season isn't as ludicrous as detractors may believe. Dak has recently stated he wants to be a Cowboy for life and by all indications, he will certainly get his chance.