Mailbag: Is a dual-threat QB needed to win?

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

Seeing Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts again in the Super Bowl, as well as Jayden Daniels and Josh Allen reaching the championship games, makes me wonder, can a team succeed in today's NFL without a dual-threat quarterback? A guy who is dangerous both passing and running? And what does that mean for the Cowboys and Dak Prescott, who I think we can all safely say is no longer really a threat to run? – Ronald Garcia/El Paso, TX

Nick: Yes, I think there's something to be said for that. You can take it to the Divisional rounds as well where you had Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, Stafford and CJ Stroud. Not all of them are considered runners, but Jackson is perhaps the best running QB of all time. I think more than anything, you have to have mobility and escapability at the quarterback position. Being able to rip off a 30 or 40-yard run isn't always necessary but it's the 10 to 12-yard runs on third-and-long that extends drive.

That's something we haven't seen a lot from Dak over the last few years. And maybe he's much different after the injury he suffered in 2020. It was discussed a lot this year that he didn't run much and of course, the game he finally took off and ran the ball against Atlanta, he ended up su freeing a season-ending hamstring injury.

I think the quarterbacks have to give you a threat of running ability. Mahomes isn't going to win any sprints but he knows how to move in the pocket. I believe Dak has to either get that element back in his game or the Cowboys need to figure out ways to put him on the move just enough to keep teams honest. Defenses are just too fast these days. If your quarterback is a statue, then it's truly 10 vs. 11. Quarterbacks have to be able to run at times and the Cowboys have missed that over the last few years.

Patrik: I sure do love a dual-threat quarterback, and that's not secret. I've pounded the table for a long time to convince the Cowboys to at least partly unleash that part of Dak Prescott's game, seeing as he was first risk-adverse to running after his season-ending ankle injury. But then it became risk mitigation by the organization itself and not Prescott, and that just never sat well with me; and especially knowing the stress it puts on opposing defenses to have to account for both qualities in a quarterback.

I'll likely abandon that ask of Prescott now, and not because I'm mitigating risk, but rather he/they will probably choose to never unlock that door again after he tore his hamstring off of the bone in 2024. If things play out that way, it'll be seriously unfortunate for those of us who know what a dual-threat QB can do because, and I'm being serious here, not everyone has to be Lamar Jackson — Patrick Mahomes also being a DTQB and that's with having the speed of a powerwalking pedestrian.

Sometimes it's less the speed and quickness and more the timing of the decision to take off and run to move the chains, and that's what I'd still like to see from Prescott. If there's green in front of you, take it, and use your eyes to deceive linebackers and cornerbacks as Mahomes, for example, does while he's "running". We'll see if he does that in 2025 and beyond, but I'm never gonna stop loving the trait.