Getty Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy, owner Jerry Jones
The Ben DiNucci hype train was just rerouted to Realityville.
There were pie-in-the-sky hopes and pipedreams after the Dallas Cowboys drafted the former James Madison quarterback. But now that he’s hit the field against an NFL defense, albeit his own, DiNucci is looking every bit like a seventh-round prospect.
“[He’s a] talented guy. He’s got a long way to go. …The speed of the game for him is fast,” Cowboys QBs coach Doug Nussmeier told reporters Wednesday, via the Dallas Morning News, conceding it’s difficult to develop a first-year signal-caller sans preseason work.
Although accurate and capable of using his legs, DiNucci’s (6-3, 209) physical limitations cap his upside as a No. 3 option at the professional level. Such is the reason he nearly went undrafted and probably would have if Dallas head man Mike McCarthy’s brother wasn’t DiNucci’s eighth-grade basketball coach.
“He’s very accurate,” McCarthy said in his post-draft conference call, via The Athletic. “He reminds me of a young Marc Bulger.”
DiNucci’s coach sees a potential incarnation of the former Rams Pro Bowler, which in itself is a stretch. And his boss likened the 23-year-old to franchise legend Tony Romo, which is … something else.
“(McCarthy) said he’s a baller. He’s very athletic. Certainly no one is saying he is, but if you remember, Tony Romo was a college free agent,” Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said in May, per The Athletic. “(Ben) has some of those type of tools, instinctive and seems to make plays.”
To be fair, DiNucci hasn’t looked terrible in his inaugural training camp. Relatively speaking, he’s performed better than 2019 practice-squadder Clayton Thorson, largely due to his rushing ability and arm strength. DiNucci was among the standouts of Sunday’s practice, per the team’s in-house report.
Rookie quarterback Ben DiNucci is arguably the fastest of the quarterbacks, and he’s also got one of the strongest arms. He showed both of those traits during one drill in the team period. DiNucci isn’t afraid to fire the ball into coverage and hit his receivers on a couple of crossing routes to move the chains. He also showed off the wheels on a designed quarterback sneak. Of course, with the red jersey on, the quarterbacks aren’t going to get hit but he made sure to steer clear of any defenders for a few yards.
DiNucci isn’t Bulger or Romo and likely never will develop into that caliber of QB. Presupposing the Cowboys carry only two passers on the 53-man regular-season roster — Dak Prescott and Andy Dalton — he’s ticketed for a future on the taxi squad, and who knows what could happen from there.
A nice project for McCarthy, yes. But, as Nussmeier indicated, let’s suspend hyperbole until it’s warranted.
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