The best thing that happened to Dak Prescott last season was the Cowboys' defense bleeding 36.5 points per game in his four full starts, necessitating him to throw 50.3 times per game. That led to him averaging 422.5 yards and 2.25 touchdowns passing in those four games, plus another 21.5 yards and 0.75 touchdowns per game on the ground.
According to Field Yates of ESPN, Prescott’s final cap number for 2021 will come in roughly $12 million below what it would have been if he played under the tag again, but it’s still unlikely that the Cowboys will be have to massively overhaul the league’s fifth-worst scoring defense enough to deter Mike McCarthy from employing a high-volume pass offense, which should allow Prescott to remain a top-tier fantasy QB and challenge for QB1 overall status.
Another thing working in Prescott’s favor: Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore will return, which should ensure Dallas remains near the top of the league in pace after he and McCarthy oversaw the league’s fastest-paced offense last season (23.59 seconds between plays, per Football Outsiders).
Prescott won’t average 400-plus yards per game again, but with reportedly no lingering concerns about his ankle, a fast-paced offense and a defense that again figures to be significantly worse than it was over his first four full seasons with the team (2016-19), Prescott should be able to give Patrick Mahomes a run for his money at the top of the fantasy quarterback ranks.
