As we noted last week, a Dallas Cowboys beat writer opined that the Philadelphia Eagles would not see Tony Romo when they face the Cowboys Week 8 in Dallas. Instead, they'll face rookie quarterback Dak Prescott.
Yesterday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported more definitively that the Cowboys will indeed roll with Prescott.
The Eagles and Cowboys may have both found their franchise quarterbacks of the next decade in the 2016 NFL Draft, but they took very different paths to get their guy. Obviously, the Eagles specifically targeted Wentz, trading a bounty of draft picks to move up to the No. 2 overall pick to get their guy. A reminder of what it took:
| Browns got | Eagles got |
| 2016 1st round pick (8th overall) | 2016 1st round pick (2nd overall) |
| 2016 3rd round pick (77th overall) | 2017 4th round pick |
| 2016 4th round pick (100th overall) | |
| 2017 1st round pick | |
| 2018 2nd round pick |
The Cowboys meanwhile, swung and missed on a number of quarterback prospects before settling on Prescott.
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- First, they reportedly would have drafted Carson Wentz fourth overall had the Rams and Eagles not traded up to the top two spots.
- Then they tried to trade up from the second-round back into the first to draft Paxton Lynch, but failed.
- Then they would have drafted Connor Cook, but the Raiders traded up ahead of them in the fourth round and took their guy. Strike three.
- And then finally they drafted Prescott in the fourth round.
Both Wentz and Prescott have been stellar so far this season as rookies:
| Player | Comp-Att (Comp %) | Yards (YPA) | TD-INT | Rating |
| Carson Wentz | 102-157 (65%) | 1186 (7.55) | 7-1 | 99.9 |
| Dak Prescott | 125-182 (68.7%) | 1486 (8.17) | 7-1 | 103.9 |
The Cowboys have a bye this week, so barring Prescott getting hit by a bus or Wentz getting destroyed by a Vikings defensive lineman (certainly possible), we'll get to see the first of potentially many Wentz-Prescott battles.
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