Dak Prescott was the MVP runner-up the last time he played a full season — and in 2025, he finally has the run game and weaponry to finish the job.
Louis Riddick isn’t wrong.
When the well-known scouting mind says that a lot does have to go right for a quarterback to win MVP. … and then suggests those things won’t happen for the 2025 Dallas Cowboys?
We get it.
Riddick, speaking specifically about Prescott’s 2025 chances, noted that George Pickens averages over 16 yards per catch, CeeDee Lamb is “fantastic,” but still, there’s “just a lot that has to go right for them to have a winning season.”
Fair. But the part Riddick left out is the most important one: when Dak Prescott is healthy, things usually do go right.
In 2023, the last time Prescott played a full season, he finished as the league’s MVP runner-up. That version of the Cowboys offense was held together by smoke and CeeDee Lamb — with a less than ideal run game and a limited arsenal of weaponry around him. That won’t be the case in 2025 on at least one of those fronts, but likely both.
Now, he has George Pickens opposite Lamb, an improved offensive line with Tyler Guyton in year two and another first-round rookie, Tyler Booker added to the mix. The interior of the Cowboys offensive line all of a sudden looks like a strength again.
Then on top of that, a restructured run game that’s designed to actually give defenses something to worry about will take heat off the QB.
Dak said it best.
“It’s really hard to double-team two guys,” he noted in review of his planned 2025 weapons.
And it’s even harder to double team two guys, stop the run, and outsmart a quarterback who’s seen every coverage the league has to offer.
Prescott’s MVP window moving forward will now be built on balance and offensive multiplicity, unlike years past. When you pair that with elite pre-snap command, don’t be surprised if 2025 looks a lot like 2023 … just slightly more physical.
And if Dallas as a team wins enough games?
The team’s centerpiece will again be in the MVP conversation.
