Cowboys Set Sights on New Quarterback Ahead of Draft

Getty Images Max Duggan of the TCU Horned Frogs.

The Dallas Cowboys have been open about wanting to draft a quarterback and Jerry Jones has his eyes on one prospect in particular — Max Duggan from TCU.

Jones is on-hand for the Senior Bowl in Alabama and has liked what he’s seen from Duggan, who led TCU to an unexpected berth in the National Championship game.

“He just looked comfortable. He looked confident. And he was really throwing the ball around. He was certainly the most impressive quarterback in my mind,” Jones said, per Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports.

Duggan had an outstanding senior season. He passed for 3,698 yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions, but his final game wasn’t exactly a draft booster. He was held to 152 yards and tossed a pair of interceptions as the Horned Frogs were throttled in the title game.

“We had a great season and it obviously did not end the way we wanted it to unfortunately with the way the national championship game went. We got our butts kicked,” Duggan told reporters at the Senior Bowl. “There’s a lot to learn from it. Obviously we’re not going to let that game dictate how we see ourselves and how this program is going to go and take away from our season. … How to handle something that was a failure in our eyes and how to get up from it.”

Duggan is projected as a mid to late-round pick in the draft.

Cowboys Still Committed to Dak Prescott

While the Cowboys may be interested in a quarterback in the draft, it doesn’t mean anything about Dak Prescott’s job security.

“Dak is going to be our guy for, hopefully the next 10 years,” Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones said on February 1. “You say that’s a long time because he’s already played seven. But I think Dak will play that long because he takes care of himself, and he’s driven to be great. We fully expect him to be here for 10 years.”

The Cowboys could decide to renegotiate with Prescott this offseason to lower his massive cap hit, which will come in at $49.1 million.

“It takes two parties to talk. Obviously, Dak is the key guy on this football team – first and foremost. No one respects him more than Jerry and myself,” said Stephen Jones.

Cowboys Confident Dak Prescott Will Bounce Back

Prescott is coming off a turbulent season where he was great at times but turnovers haunted him. In 12 games Prescott passed for 2,860 yards and 23 touchdowns. However, his 15 interceptions were a league-high and he tossed a pair in the Divisional Round loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Jerry Jones is confident Prescott will take strides in improving that number next season.

“I’m not going to speak for him, but I don’t know of anybody who probably looks in the mirror more than Dak and is into self-correcting, self-improvement,” Jerry Jones said. “That’s what he’s about. That’s the outstanding quality. He takes what he gets, he takes all he can get from Kellen or whether it’s Mike, or whoever. He takes all he gets from his coaching and puts it on the practice field and he goes out there and is very open to doing it better.”

The Cowboys will likely lose backup wonder Cooper Rush to free agency this offseason, which would put Will Grier in line to be the backup if no other QB enters the mix.