Teammates almost always have each other’s back in the NFL. And while there’s no indication that anything is amiss in the Dallas Cowboys’ locker room, defensive stars Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs had a curious omission when ranking their top quarterbacks on Thursday.
Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs Exclude Dak Prescott From Top 10 QBs
Appearing on Parsons’ podcast The Edge with Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and Parsons got into a discussion about Jayden Daniels. That led to the Cowboys defenders getting into a discussion which quarterbacks belonged in the top five or top 10 of the league. Noticeably absent from that list was teammate Dak Prescott.
#Cowboys Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs didn't include their own QB, Dak Prescott, in their top 10 😬
(via:@BleacherReport) pic.twitter.com/iCaDmwCP8s— Law Nation Sports (@LawsNation) October 31, 2024
Parsons and Diggs did not specifically order their list, but here were the quarterbacks mentioned in chronological order in the video. In fairness, they listed eight in total, so it’s possible that Prescott would have made the list if they expanded to 10. Of course, one of the inclusions was Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, who was a backup for the majority of the past two seasons:
- Jayden Daniels
- Patrick Mahomes
- Lamar Jackson
- Josh Allen
- Jalen Hurts
- Jared Goff
- Matthew Stafford
- Sam Darnold
Dak Prescott Has Not Played at a Top-10 Level in 2024
While snubbing Prescott might not go over well with the Cowboys, Parsons and Diggs aren’t wrong from a statistical standpoint. PFN’s QB+ metric uses a variety of situational EPA and success rate factors to rank quarterbacks.
Prescott is currently the 24th-ranked quarterback for the 2024 season with a D+ grade (44.7), a far cry from the top 10. In discussing Prescott’s season, PFN’s Ben Rolfe had this to say about his struggles:
“Dak Prescott is another quarterback who got paid this past offseason and has then struggled on the field. His Week 8 performance was his fourth with a C grade or lower. This is so far below his previous numbers between 2019 and 2023 that it’s fair to ask if there is something more going on here in terms of injury or off-field concerns.
“One of Prescott’s recent hallmarks has been his calmness and poise under pressure, but those numbers have fallen off this year. He’s also struggled from a clean pocket, resulting in his third-down conversion rate and nYPA numbers divebombing while he has struggled in a couple of different clutch spots.”
The third-down conversion rate has been particularly alarming, as he ranks 25th in that category this season after ranking eighth last year. In fact, after posting his two best career marks in that category each of the last two seasons, 2024 is Prescott’s worst third-down conversion rate of his nine-year career.
That’s not the only area where Dak is hitting career lows. Prescott has 10 touchdown passes to eight interceptions on the season, on pace to be the worst TD-INT ratio of his career. He also ranks 20th in EPA per play (-0.07), on pace to post his first career season with a negative EPA per play figure.
Parsons and Diggs may have broken the unwritten code of always supporting your teammates. But from a strictly statistical standpoint, their opinions on Dak ranking outside the top quarterbacks in the league are absolutely valid for this season.