Photo Gallery: A Celebration of Dak
With the signing of his new contract extension, we take a look back at some of quarterback Dak Prescott's career highlights.
The Cowboys' second pick in the fourth round (135th overall) of the 2016 draft, Prescott went to training camp as the fourth quarterback on the depth chart.
The default starter after both Tony Romo and Kellen Moore went down with injuries in training camp, Prescott scored his first NFL touchdown with a 6-yard run in a 27-23 win at Washington on Sept. 18, 2016.
Prescott then became the first rookie quarterback in Cowboys history to start a playoff game when Dallas faced off against Green Bay in a divisional round showdown. He threw for 302 yards with a 103.2 passer rating and became the first NFL rookie to throw three touchdown passes in a playoff game.
For his effort, Prescott earned 2016 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after setting rookie club records with 3,667 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
On his second pass attempt at the Broncos on Sept. 17, 2017, Prescott became the first quarterback in NFL history to have less than five interceptions in his first 500 career attempts.
On Dec. 1, 2017, Prescott threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns, with all three of those scores coming from 20 or more yards out, including an 81-yarder to Rod Smith. Behind that performance, the Cowboys beat the rival Giants, 30-10.
Prescott racked up 455 passing yards in a 29-23 victory over the Eagles on Dec. 9, 2018, which also saw him toss three touchdown passes, one a 75-yard score to Amari Cooper. In addition, Dak surpassed 10,000 career yards in the game.
Not only did Prescott record his first postseason victory with a win over Seattle in the 2018 wild-card round, he also became the first quarterback in Cowboys history with both a rushing and passing score in a playoff game.
The 2018 season saw Prescott earn his second of three trips to the Pro Bowl. He also was invited to the all-star event in both 2016 and 2023.
The Cowboys opened the 2019 season with a 35-17 win against the Giants on Sept. 8 in which Prescott completed 78.1 percent of his passes (25 of 32) for 405 passing yards and four touchdowns. With a 158.3 passer rating, he became only the second quarterback in Cowboys record books to post a perfect rating and just the fourth to do so in NFL history with more than 30 passing attempts.
With 334 passing yards on Dec. 5, 2019 at Chicago, Prescott became just the second quarterback in Cowboys history to surpass 4,000 passing yards in a season.
In the Cowboys' fifth game of the schedule, against the Giants on Oct. 11, 2020, Prescott suffered a severe ankle injury. When his season came to an end, he was on pace for 5,000 passing yards. In his absence, Dallas went just 4-7 the rest of the way.
At the Patriots on Oct. 17, 2021, Prescott threw for a season-high 445 yards and three touchdowns, including a 35-yard connection with CeeDee Lamb in overtime to give Dallas a 35-29 win. Dak was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Prescott went on to throw a team-record 37 touchdown passes during the 2021 season and totaled 4,449 passing yards, the fourth most in Cowboys history.
Prescott finished up the 2022 campaign with a 15-yard touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb in the season finale at Washington on Jan. 8, 2023. With that, he passed Hall of Famer Troy Aikman for the second-most touchdown passes in franchise history, totaling 166.
In the 2022 wild-card playoff game at Tampa Bay, Prescott threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns for a 143.3 passer rating. He also ran for a score as well in the Cowboys' 31-14 win. This would mark the last NFL game for the great Tom Brady.
After the season, Prescott received the 2022 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award for his outstanding community service off the field as well as his excellence on the field. He joined Roger Staubach (1978), Troy Aikman (1997) and Jason Witten (2012) as the fourth Cowboys player to receive the prestigious honor.
Against Washington on Jan. 7, 2024, Prescott completed 86.1 percent of his passes and tossed four touchdown passes. In doing so, he became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to post four games with at least an 80 percent completion rate. That also marked his 11th career game with at least four touchdown throws, setting a new franchise record. In addition, Prescott joined Tony Romo as the only quarterbacks in Cowboys annals to reach 200 touchdown passes.
Runner-up for MVP honors in 2023, Prescott became the first Cowboys quarterback to lead the NFL outright in passing touchdowns (36). He also topped the league in completions (410), was second in completion percentage (69.5) and passer rating (105.9) and ranked third in passing yards (4,516).
For the fifth straight year in a row, Prescott was presented the team's Bob Lilly Award. Voted on by Cowboys fans, the honor is given for sportsmanship, dedication, leadership and achievement. Since this recognition started in 1985, Prescott is now second to only Jason Witten in franchise history for the most times winning the award.
