‘No Step Back’: Dak Prescott Confident As Cowboys Drop in New NFL Power Rankings

Peter King's pre-OTAs power rankings are not kind to the Dallas Cowboys.

It's here! No, not the NFL season. Even better, it's Power Ranking Season.

Yes, already. And already, some think the Dallas Cowboys have taken a step back.

Dak Prescott disagrees,

Said Dak this week at OTAs: “We definitely didn’t take a step back. We’re going to continue to get better and that’s what this offseason is about.”

Despite teams not being anywhere close to their final regular-season composition, power rankings are already flying around like a stray frisbee on a college quad. For all the drama that power rankings can stir up, Peter King's first 2022 NFL power rankings ahead of OTAs are actually non-controversial and, all things considered, fair.

The Cowboys come into the rankings at No. 15. The Cowboys had the 24th overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, meaning they finished the season as the No. 9 overall team in the league last season. 

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

Philadelphia Eagles

New York Giants

Washington Commanders

In comparison, division rivals Philadelphia Eagles ranked No. 9, New York Giants ranked No. 24, and Washington Commanders ranked No. 26.

The team finished with a 12-5 record, which was enough to earn the third seed in the playoffs. However, after a disappointing 23-17 wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the team's championship prospects entering the 2022 season seem to be slightly lower.

With Dallas trading away wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns and depth on the offensive line remaining thin, the Cowboys will need their young talent to step up in order to keep their championship window open.

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who has shown tremendous potential already as a No. 1 receiver, will have to make another leap in his development. In 2021, the young receiver registered 79 receptions for 1102 yards and six touchdowns. 

Defensively, however, the team remains stout. Behind the sparkplug known as Micah Parsons, the Dallas defense should continue to stifle opposing offenses in 2022.

Though there remains questions about a lack of depth, the team is nonetheless still poised to make a playoff run at the very least.

Micah Parsons

Amari Cooper

CeeDee Lamb

In general, it's certainly easy to get caught up in the hype (or lack thereof) being generated by these power rankings. But at the end of the day, there's a lot of time left between now and the regular season. The beauty of power rankings is that they're always changing.

At least the Cowboys hope so. And Dak Prescott seems to believe he knows so.