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In the early weeks of the 2025 NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys’ All-Pro quarterback, Dak Prescott, looked like an MVP frontrunner. His offense stumbling and the defense flunking has changed this, however.
Now, at 3-5-1, Prescott’s MVP odds have sunk, while guys like Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford have soared.
Prescott, 32, is a former runner-up for the league’s highest honor, and that came in a 12-5 season; a pace the current Cowboys are far from achieving.
As we look toward the remaining eight games, this long-shot tune may change for the former Mississippi State star. In short, his MVP-star may start to shine again as we go into the November-December stretch.
Here are the top three reasons why Dak Prescott is not done yet in the race for the biggest award there is.
1. Defense = Wins: Record Could Turn Around With New Defenders En Route
The biggest culprit for Prescott’s regression in these talks is not himself: it is his league-worst, atrocity-of-a-defensive-unit.
Dallas knows this, so they tried to fix it. Their next games will feature a slew of fresh faces on the defense, including external additions Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson.
They will also get guys like DeMarvion Overshown, Shavon Revel, and Malik Hooker back to full speed this month.
Will it be enough to turn the defense into a monster? That is highly unlikely. If they can, however, improve just enough to be more mediocre than poor, they could win games simply based on that.
If that happens and the wins start rolling, expect Prescott’s name to climb back into those award-winning conversations naturally.
2. Full Arsenal Available: Healthy Weaponry Can Make For A Prescott Hot Streak
The bye week, aside from the acquisition of the two aforementioned defenders, gave the Cowboys a chance to get healthy.
As a result, Prescott will enter the final stretch with a fairly healthy weaponry around him, and we’ve seen how deadly he can be when that is the case. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens’ health are huge for their QB1.
When this offense is at full strength, it may be the single best one in the entire league. They’ll just need to have luck on their side to keep that health these next two months.
If we do see that happen, a healthy Cowboys offense and an improved defense elevate the team to playoff contenders. In turn, that early-season chatter will spark again for Dallas’s long-time QB1.
3. No True Front Runner: Race Remains Wide Open Heading Into Week 11
With all due respect to Maye and Stafford, and even Jonathan Taylor we have yet to see anybody clearly cement themselves as a true front-runner in the MVP race.
That creates a clear pathway for a Dak Prescott reemergence, as the race is wide open for anybody to jump into. If we start to see them win games and watch his numbers skyrocket, there isn’t anybody yet who blocks him from returning to front-runner status.
It is a rare year when the big four of Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes aren’t dominating the MVP race. Somebody, whether it be Taylor, Stafford, Maye, or Prescott, is going to capitalize on that and bring home some hardware.
As we’ve discussed here, the biggest obstacle standing in the Cowboys’ quarterback’s way is his own team. They may be too far gone to get back in that race, as this award almost always goes to teams in the top three of their conference.
Time will tell if Prescott is able to climb back into the ranks, but his own strength combined with Dallas’s midseason moves certainly gives the odds a jolt.
