Getty Nick Starkel looks for an open receiver while playing for Arkansas.
As the Dallas Cowboys enter the next phase of the offseason, it appears that the franchise is still considering adding to their quarterback room in free agency.
Barring a truly unbelievable change in direction, Dallas’ starting quarterback in 2022 will be Dak Prescott. Prescott is coming off a season with 4449 receiving yards and 37 touchdowns, and Dallas will hope to replicate or improve those numbers.
But Prescott’s injury-struck 2020 season is a recent reminder to have the best backups possible, and the Cowboys are considering two names as potential additions. ESPN reporter Chris Archer reported on May 10 that Nick Starkel and Terry Wilson will be coming in for minicamp workouts.
“The Cowboys will have QBs Nick Starkel and Terry Wilson at this weekend’s minicamp on a tryout basis,” Archer Tweeted. “Starkel was last at San Jose St. after playing at Texas A&M and Arkansas, while Wilson finished at New Mexico after transferring from Kentucky.”
The visits are a chance to see if two quarterbacks who played high-level college football have anything special after both went undrafted and then unsigned in the UDFA wave.
Wilson played three years in the SEC as did Starkel, and the latter sticks out due to his time at Cowboys owner Jerry Jones‘ alma mater, Arkansas.
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Starkel’s College Resume
What is enticing about Starkel is that he’s a pocket passer with a prototypical 6’3″ frame. His -175 career rushing yards across his three schools show that the former San Jose State player doesn’t escape the pocket much.
After losing the starting job at Texas A&M after three years in College Station, Starkel transferred to Arkansas but not before he completed 60.8% of his passes for 1962 yards and 15 touchdowns to six interceptions according to Sports Reference. Those were the best splits of his college career.
Starkel struggled at Arkansas. He completed just 53.8% of his passing attempts, threw seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions and totaled just 1152 passing yards in eight games. This led to a final two years at San Jose State, where he improved.
In his fourth and fifth college seasons, Starkel completed 58% of his passes for 3819 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Not quite the efficiency of his Texas A&M play, but a definite improvement.
Starkel is trying to prove his value to the Cowboys through his arm, and he will need to bring an impressive showing to stand out in that regard.
Wilson Showing Cowboys a Different Skillset
While Starkel is a pocket passer, Wilson is a quarterback with legs who accrued over 1000 rushing yards while in college. Wilson also boasts a better college career completion percentage than Starkel, completing 63.3% of his attempts.
His Sports Reference numbers at Kentucky show that Wilson amassed 3436 passing yards over 25 games, throwing 20 touchdowns to 12 interceptions over that span. In his two full seasons at Kentucky in 2018 and 2020 (Wilson only played two games in 2019,) he ran for 547 and 424 rushing yards and added 10 total touchdowns on the ground in his career.
Due to COVID-19’s impact on the 2020 season, Wilson benefitted from an extra year of eligibility and was able to play at New Mexico in 2021. However, Wilson did regress slightly compared to his Kentucky numbers, completing 58 percent of his passes and posting a 117.8 quarterback rating, the lowest of his college career.
If the Cowboys want a Taysom Hill type of athlete/quarterback, Wilson would be the closest thing they would have on the roster.