Poll: What should the Cowboys do at backup quarterback?

Dak Prescott is the unquestioned starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, really.

There are those that protest this, but the reality is that the Cowboys are Dak Prescott’s team. His role isn’t at all in jeopardy, but the person who backs him up might be.

2017 Cooper Rush > 2018 Cooper Rush

Cooper Rush has been the established backup quarterback to Prescott ever since the Cowboys finally released Kellen Moore (in favor of Blake Jarwin mind you) last October. To be named the primary backup quarterback as an undrafted rookie before Halloween is no small feat, and for that Cooper deserves a lot of credit.

While Rush’s rookie campaign was impressive he has not impressed so far through his second season. It was this time a year ago that we were fresh off of four preseason games where he came out looking so much like a star that the Cowboys carried him on their 53-man roster, these days his spot as QB2 is up for debate.

Everything went Mike White’s way, except Mike White’s play

Rush’s subpar preseason is exactly what rookie Mike White needed to happen if he wanted the backup job for himself. Had White played well enough to earn that nod it would have created a fascinating domino effect across the rest of the roster, but he hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire either. To be blunt, he’s looked like a rookie.

This presents a problem. The Cowboys have an identified franchise quarterback in Dak Prescott, but they don’t have much behind him. If Dak were to miss games for any reason it feels like we could be nearing the state of the 2015 Dallas Cowboys that were led by Brandon Weeden (who the Cowboys just coincidentally played), Matt Cassel, and the aforementioned Kellen Moore. Nobody wants to re-live that.

What should the Cowboys do at QB2?

Of course the question that this conversation is always met with is one that has encircled NFL teams forever - which team does have a good back-up situation? There are those that love to respond to this probing with “we need a Nick Foles-type who can carry the team in case of an emergency.” Obviously every team wants a backup quarterback who is capable of winning the Super Bowl like Foles did. The reality is that that is an extreme rarity.

So while the Cowboys might not necessarily have the worst backup situation compared to the rest of the league it does remain true that theirs is not ideal. What should be done of that? There are three options.

You’ve already read through options one and two, and odds are that you don’t like them very much. This leads us to door number three, the acquisition of a veteran quarterback during roster cuts.

There’s likely somebody to be released this weekend that’s worth taking a look at (which of course would be met with “why do we want him if he couldn’t even make the ____?” response) or the Cowboys could trade for somebody they like. I’m not talking about a Teddy Bridgewater-to-the-Saints-level trade, something more akin to the Seattle Seahawks acquiring Brett Hundley.

Let me be clear that I’m not advocating for a quarterback similar to Hundley’s talents, merely a transaction of that quality, assuming you prefer option number three that is. What do you prefer, BTB? With roster cuts upon us we need to decide. Obviously the Cowboys will listen to whatever we say.