Dallas Cowboys

Hall of Fame Game highlights Dallas Cowboys' second option behind Dak Prescott

Published Aug. 8, 2021 10:58 a.m. ET

As disappointed as fans might have been to not see Dak Prescott during Thursday's Hall of Fame Game, they were equally excited to see Ben DiNucci in his stead.

The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers kicked off the NFL season on Thursday in Canton, Ohio, with the Steelers emerging victorious, 16-3.

But the real story was that neither team rolled out its starting quarterback for the game, as Steelers coach Mike Tomlin decided to hold out Ben Roethlisberger and Prescott is still nursing a shoulder injury that reared its ugly head in Cowboys training camp.

For Pittsburgh, Mason Rudolph got the start under center (6-for-9 passing, 84 yards) and former first-round pick Dwayne Haskins backed him up (8-for-13 passing, 54 yards).

But most eyes – if not all – were focused on the Cowboys' backup signal-callers.

Garrett Gilbert got the start for Dallas, completing nine of 13 pass attempts for 104 yards and a 93.1 passer rating.

Second off the pine was Cooper Rush, who completed eight of 13 pass attempts for 70 yards and a 75.8 passer rating.

And closing out the game was DiNucci, who last season gained fame after filling in for an injured Andy Dalton who was filling in for an injured Prescott.

DiNucci didn't find much success in his lone start of 2020 – he completed 21 of 40 passes for 180 yards and no touchdowns, was sacked four times, and lost two fumbles – but he did have this sick sidearm highlight.

Ah – good memories.

On Thursday, DiNucci completed seven of 17 passes for 89 yards an interception, finishing with a 33.7 passer rating.

For his career, DiNucci is 23-for-43 passing (53.5 completion percentage) for 219 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions in three games played and one start. He also has six rushes for 22 yards.

Gilbert has made seven professional appearances and one start, and in those games, he's completed 23 of 44 passes (52.3 completion percentage) for 283 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He's been sacked three times for a loss of 28 yards.

Rush has played in five career games, completing one pass for two yards on three pass attempts.

Needless to say, if Prescott isn't in tip-top shape this season, the Cowboys could find themselves in a pickle, as Nick Wright laid out on Friday's edition of "The Herd," when he called Dallas "irresponsible" for not nabbing a seasoned backup QB this offseason to support Prescott.

"When your starting quarterback, who you just invested $160 million into, is coming off a devastating injury, and the timeline (for his return) was always gonna be a little fuzzy, why did the Cowboys let themselves go into this season with this being their backup quarterback situation?"

Through his first four years, Prescott has been arguably the most reliable QB in the league, never missing a start in 67 games – 64 in the regular season and three in the postseason.

He started the first five games of the 2020 season before suffering a gruesome leg injury that sidelined him for the rest of the year and could have potentially affected him coming into this season.

However, Prescott was ready for training camp and all indications pointed toward him starting Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But Prescott's recent shoulder injury has put that Week 1 start – on Sept. 9 – in doubt at least somewhat.

Wright pointed to his hometown Kansas City Chiefs as an example of why a serviceable backup could literally be the difference between agony and glory in the NFL, pointing toward the last two seasons.

"Take my team: the Chiefs. If there's any team that's quarterback-reliant, it's the Chiefs. Yet, what have we seen each of the last two years? They have had a backup quarterback come in, in a massive spot, and deliver them a victory."

In Week 7 of the 2019 season, Patrick Mahomes suffered a dislocated kneecap against the Denver Broncos, which opened the door for veteran Matt Moore to step into his spot.

Moore would lead the Chiefs to a win over the Broncos and go 1-1 in his next two games, keeping Kansas City afloat.

Mahomes returned in Week 10 and led K.C. to nine wins in its last 10 games, including a Super Bowl LIV victory over San Francisco.

Then, last season, Mahomes suffered a concussion in the third quarter of Kansas City's divisional-round game against Cleveland, opening the door for another backup – Chad Henne – to come in and guide the Chiefs to a nailbiting win.

"Without that – without Henne's play once Mahomes went down in that playoff game – the Chiefs don't make the Super Bowl," Wright said.

Mahomes would return in the AFC Championship Game the following week and lead K.C. to the Super Bowl once again.

Prescott has time to recover from his shoulder injury – a month and a day, to be exact – but still, the Hall of Fame Game shined a light on just how valuable Dak is to the Dallas attack.

Guess he was worth the money after all.

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