NFL Execs Rank Top 10 QBs: Where's Cowboys' Prescott?

According to the big brains who make the NFL's football decisions, Dak Prescott is indeed a Top 10 quarterback.

Depending on who you ask - or perhaps when you ask them - Dak Prescott is:

Overpaid.

Underrated.

Overhyped.

Underappreciated.

An elite NFL quarterback.

Just another stat-stuffer who can't win in the postseason.

With his athletic scrambles, prolific passing statistics and, um, costly decisions, the enigmatic Dallas Cowboys' star can elicit responses spanning the spectrum. But in a recent survey of NFL decision-makers - coaches and general managers - it is decreed:

Prescott is indeed a Top 10 quarterback.

In these dog days of Summer seems every media outlet - yes, we're guilty - is producing a list about this or a ranking of that.

But ESPN dug a little deeper this week, compiling a "list of lists" curated via interviews with more than 50 NFL team executives. The result: A peer-reviewed list of the league's Top 10 quarterbacks.

Says ESPN of the process:

Voters gave us their best 10 players at a position, then we compiled the results and ranked candidates based on number of top-10 votes, composite average, hundreds of interviews, research and film study. In total, more than 50 voters submitted a ballot on at least one position, and in many cases all positions. We had several ties, so we broke them with the help of additional voting and follow-up calls with our rankers.

The final list includes a quarterback with only one playoff win (Dak Prescott), one (Deshaun Watson) who hasn't thrown a pass in the league in 18 months, another (Russell Wilson) yet to throw one for his new team, and a top six that includes five who have played in a Super Bowl.

ESPN's Top 10 NFL QBs:

10. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

9. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

8. Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos

7. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

6. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

5. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

4. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

3. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

1. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Prescott and his lone playoff win edging 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson is likely the list's most controversial ranking.

Explained ESPN:

Voters pointed to Prescott's consistency, helping him beat out top-tier passers. Though the Cowboys quarterback did not receive a single top-five vote, he was a fixture in the Nos. 7-10 range, helping him outdistance Lamar Jackson for the last spot.

Coming off a catastrophic lower leg injury in 2020, Prescott last season produced the league's fourth-most touchdown passes (37) and fourth-best completion percentage (68.8 percent). True to his conflicted perception, he was having an MVP-caliber season until an October strained calf deteriorated his late-year performance.

He is 53-32 as a starter, but only 1-3 in the playoffs.

"He's a good, but not great, quarterback. He has to play well in the playoffs," an NFC executive said. "Has to prove he can take them to the next level. He's not in the top echelon."

Prescott's season ended dramatically, when he decided to scramble in the waning seconds and failed to spike the ball in time to give the Cowboys one final snap to perhaps tie the San Francisco 49ers in their Wild Card loss in January.

"He has good poise in the pocket, sturdy," an NFC offensive coach said. "Always been deadly when they space the field. Sometimes needs an extra hitch to confirm things."

Add it all up and Prescott is a Top 10 quarterback. Your buddies might not think so. But do we dare argue with the NFL's real experts?