Dak Prescott told Dallas Cowboys fans exactly what they wanted to hear, and he did not hedge. “It’s Super Bowl or bust,” the quarterback said during a virtual meet and greet alongside rookie defensive back Caleb Downs, in comments published Friday by the team’s official site. “That’s the only reason you play this game. And so if that’s not your mindset, if that’s not your mindset as a fan, then to me, you don’t have the right passion.”
The talk is annual in Dallas. The receipts behind it are what changed this offseason. The Cowboys went 7-9-1 last year with one of the league’s best offenses attached to one of the worst defenses in franchise history, and the front office responded by rebuilding that side of the ball almost entirely: first-time coordinator Christian Parker hired away from the rival Eagles, free-agent additions in Rashan Gary, Jalen Thompson and Cobie Durant, and Downs taken 11th overall out of Ohio State. As many as six or seven new defensive starters could open the season. Prescott, entering his 11th year and coming off a career-best No. 6 placement in ESPN’s league-wide quarterback survey, was not the problem. Whether the bust talk holds up depends on the group Parker is assembling.
That is why his comments on Downs carry more weight than standard rookie praise. “He’s just done everything right,” Prescott said. “It makes me think back to my rookie year, and it’s more of just about keeping your mouth quiet and earning respect from the other people… Caleb has done all of that and plus.” Prescott also noted the responsibility on the rookie: a new defense “trying to create an identity, and how much of a big part he’s going to play in it.” A veteran quarterback volunteering that a first-year safety is central to the team’s identity, before a single padded practice, is the kind of endorsement that tends to precede a large early-season role.
Prescott’s offseason itinerary included throwing sessions with the full pass-catching group in Utah — a group ESPN’s survey just ranked among the league’s best — before camp opens in Oxnard on July 28.
For fantasy purposes, nothing here moves Prescott’s draft price, but the context helps it: an intact top-tier receiver room and a defense built to hold leads should keep his passing volume stable, and Downs is the rare rookie defensive back worth early IDP attention given how openly the franchise quarterback is describing him as a Week 1 centerpiece.
— Tex Starline
