Rookie from JMU to start for reeling Cowboys vs. Eagles
On Wednesday, Ben DiNucci confronted Dak Prescott.
“Hey,” the Dallas Cowboys’ rookie quarterback told the veteran, “this isn’t what you said my rookie year was going to be like.”
Prescott laughed.
“Go out there and do you,” Prescott said, according to DiNucci, the 23-yearold who will start tonight in Philadelphia because Andy Dalton has been ruled out with a concussion. “Take completions. Trust the guys around you. You’ll be great. Don’t overthink it. Football’s football.”
Confidence, Cowboys teammates and coaches say, is a trait DiNucci does not lack. But he admits he would have asked you to pinch him if you told him a year ago he would be in this position. The Cowboys, for whom Prescott started 72 consecutive games, including the playoffs, might have requested the same.
When the Giants faced Dallas on Oct. 11, Prescott was leading the league in passing yards (422.5 per game), Andy Dalton had played two offensive snaps on the season and an inactive DiNucci’s activity was limited to a pregame throwing lesson.
Then Prescott suffered a season-ending compound fracture and dislocation of his ankle. Two weeks later, against Washington, Dalton absorbed a head-first blow so fierce it knocked his helmet off, his unprotected head again then hitting the grass of FedEx Field.
Dalton was unable to practice this week as he remained in concussion protocol. DiNucci took first-team snaps all week.
Welcome to 2020, he says.
“I think in the span of 10 days, I went from being in a sweatshirt and sweat pants to here we are, my number could be called,” DiNucci said. “This is everyone’s childhood dream, right? The chance to be the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. What more could you want?”
‘Fire in his eyes’
The Cowboys selected DiNucci in the seventh round, 231st overall, in the 2020 draft. The pick was in line with head coach Mike McCarthy’s philosophy of perennially developing a quarterback.
On the field, McCarthy liked DiNucci’s accuracy and mobility. DiNucci played two seasons for James Madison after transferring from Pittsburgh. In 2019, he completed a Football Championship Subdivision-best 70.9% of his passes for 3,441 yards and 29 touchdowns, with six interceptions. His efficiency significantly improved from 2018, when DiNucci completed 68.3% of passes but had just 16 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.
In both of his JMU seasons, he was effective scrambling. DiNucci rushed for 1,002 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 4.4 yards per carry across the two seasons.
“What people don’t realize is he can run a little bit,” Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott said. “So he’ll be able to get outside the pocket and make some plays.”
Off the field, McCarthy related to DiNucci as a fellow Pittsburgh native whom McCarthy’s brother had coached on the eighthgrade basketball court. DiNucci let McCarthy know that when they found themselves in the same Frisco elevator in January, McCarthy freshly minted as the Cowboys’ coach and DiNucci in town for the FCS championship game.
DiNucci’s elevator initiative displayed a confidence that teammates have noticed as he readies for a likely Week 8 start. The confidence was evident in Dallas’ Week 7 loss, when DiNucci was thrust into the game in the third quarter down 19. In 12 snaps, he completed 2 of 3 passes for 39 yards, but fumbled twice (the Cowboys recovered both).
The operation needed to be cleaned up, McCarthy said, but DiNucci’s attitude impressed as he told teammates: It’s raining, the stands are empty and we’ve got nothing to lose. Let’s create our energy and have some fun.
He maintained that message while taking firstteam snaps in practice this week. Right guard Zack Martin touted DiNucci’s swagger, receiver Michael Galluplaudingthecommand as a deep-voiced DiNucci called out protections.
“Slinger,” linebacker Jaylon Smith said of DiNucci.“Fullofconfidence. And that’s what I love: You see a fire in his eyes.”
Eagles ‘try to eat you up’
That fire doesn’t cloud DiNucci’s vision from the reality of what he’ll face in Philadelphia. In two games without Prescott, the Cowboys have scored 13 total points, the lone touchdown coming in garbage time against Arizona. The Cowboys’ offensive line has lost both starting tackles for the season, and there’s only one lineman in last week’s game remaining from the 2020 starting lineup. (Martin, a four-time All-Pro right guard, is expected to return this week from concussion protocol.)
Meanwhile, the Eagles have sacked opposing quarterbacks on 9.16% of dropbacks, third-best in the league. Philadelphia’s defense has allowed 220.4 passing yards per game (seventh) and 350.9 total yards of offense (12th).
Studying film, DiNucci saw the unit ramp up its aggression against younger quarterbacks in the Bengals’ Joe Burrow and the Giants’ Daniel Jones.
“I think that’s kind of their M.O.,” DiNucci said of the Eagles, who queried their college scouts this week for a deeper analysis on the rookie.
The Cowboys are realistic, too, that DiNucci is just beginning to build chemistry with the receiving corps of Gallup, Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb. Gallup emphasized the importance of motivating the rookie through bad throws or bad reads. The speed of DiNucci’s passes surprised Gallup, who also expects offensive-line woes to complicate the timing of routes. Regardless, DiNucci’s arm talent impressed.
“He’s been slinging that thing,” Gallup said. “He’s been good.”