Should Cowboys' Dak Prescott be in MVP conversation? Dallas teammates weigh in

FRISCO, Texas -- The last full season Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was healthy was 2023. That year he led the NFL with 36 passing touchdowns and finished second in league MVP voting.

Following a torn hamstring injury that ended his 2024 campaign halfway through a year ago, Prescott is back on an MVP caliber pace -- according to his teammates. He entered Week 6 leading the NFL ranking top five in the NFL in multitude of passing statistics despite playing the last two weeks without All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (ankle sprain) and in Dallas' 37-22 victory at the New York Jets in Week 5, Prescott was without four offensive line starters because of injury. That didn't affect the Cowboys quarterback: he threw for four touchdowns and 237 yards on 18 of 29 passing while only getting sacked once. 

"I would definitely say that he's definitely the MVP," fill-in left tackle Nate Thomas said of Prescott on Monday. "That's my quarterback. .... To see him go through everything when we watch the tape and just go through the reads and just boop [completion], boop [completion], pass here, pass there. It's impressive to watch him play, and then protecting him, I take pride in that. I'm going to do a better job of that as times moves forward, but yeah watching him on film and being out there is great." 

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"Dak is doing it at an MVP caliber right now," All-Pro kick returner and wide receiver KaVontae Turpin said on Wednesday.   

Prescott's 71.3% completion at the moment would rank as the highest in NFL history by a player that also led the NFL in pass attempts, according to NFL Pro. The Cowboys quarterback currently leads the NFL with 195 passing attempts this season. 

"Just the work I've put into this for one, just how good I feel  with just the offense, the way Schotty's been dialing things up. Then, obviously the protection is a huge part of it. You can't do that if you're not getting protected the right way. Receivers are getting to the right spots. That's everything just coming together honestly," Prescott said on Thursday. "I want to be higher than that [71.3%]. I don't like any incompletions unless it's truly just throwaways, right. So our standard is high and we make sure we push it each and every day at practice. It's just about going out there and continuing to raise it."

Prescott currently has the seventh-best odds (+1700) to win the 2025 NFL MVP this season, according to FanDuel, while the leading the  league's No. 1 total offense (406.6 total yards per game) and being saddled with the league's worst total defense (412.0 total yards per game). 

Prescott climbing Cowboys' all-time leader boards, can see playing into forties 

Entering Week 6, Prescott's record as a starting quarterback is 78-84-1. Tony Romo, Prescott's predecessor, went 78-49 in his career as Dallas' starting quarterback from 2006 to 2015, so with a victory on Sunday over the Carolina Panthers (2-3), Prescott would break the tie for the third-most wins as a starting quarterback in Cowboys history. That's an accomplishment not worth bringing the champagne out for in the 32-year-old's mind. The fourth-round rookie iteration of Prescott would have been annoyed that any oxygen was being given to him reaching third place for any Cowboys statistic. 

"Never celebrated third place, so it's another stat. It's another one of those things when you play this long that you're just going to climb," Prescott said. "Yeah, probably 2016 Dak was a little arrogant, a little bit more. He'd probably be mad. Just give it time."

With 32,793 yards passing, Prescott can surpass Hall of Famer Troy Aikman's 32,942 career passing yards for second-most on Dallas' all-time list with 150 yards on Sunday. Romo's 34,183 career yards passing are atop the Cowboys' leaderboard. 

"Honestly not until you guys ask me. Truthfully. Don't look it up. Couldn't tell you," Prescott said of climbing Dallas' all-time passing record books. "Honestly couldn't even tell you the number you just said already. I know you said third. Seriously couldn't. I think if anything it's just a testament of how long I've been playing. That's the biggest blessing, and that's what I'm so thankful for: still playing the game that I love. Talking about the peace and the fun that I'm having, it's just about being present. I know if I continue to do that at the level that I want to, those things will just happen."

So how much longer could Prescott play? As a rookie in 2016, he couldn't imagine being like Tom Brady and playing into his 40's. Ten seasons into his career, he can now envision making it to age 40 and still playing football now just eight years away from the next decade of his life. 

"Forties would be a good number. Obviously I've been through some injuries. Played very physical in college. If I can get to 40 playing at the standard I want, that would be awesome. To answer your question, it's [my perspective] definitely changed," Prescott said. "I can see it more realistically now. Just as much as anything, the fun and the peace this game still gives me 10 years in is going to be hard [to replace]. You can't supplement it. As long as I can do this at a level that I'm proud and happy with, I'll keep trying."