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Ben DiNucci
They are saying familiarity breeds contempt. For the Dallas Cowboys, it breeds hyperbolic comparisons.
The Cowboys chosen James Madison quarterback Ben DiNucci within the seventh spherical of the 2020 NFL draft. Would they've taken him if new head coach Mike McCarthy’s brother, he revealed, wasn’t DiNucci’s eight-grade basketball coach? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
However issues end up the best way issues end up. Actuality is, DiNucci’s now a Cowboy, after the crew sensed he’d signal elsewhere as an undrafted free agent, and McCarthy has a brand new pet venture behind incumbent starter Dak Prescott.
A venture with a helluva ceiling.
“He’s very correct,” McCarthy stated of DiNucci in his post-draft convention name, by way of The Athletic. “He jogs my memory of a younger Marc Bulger.”
Like DiNucci, chosen No. 231 total, Bulger was a late-round decide (No. 168), drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2000. He bounced from the Saints follow squad to the Atlanta Falcons’ taxi crew earlier than discovering a everlasting NFL residence in St. Louis.
Bulger finally succeeded Kurt Warner below middle, taking on The Biggest Present on Turf. And whereas he didn’t go on to take pleasure in a Warner-type, Corridor of Fame profession with the Rams, Bulger was extremely profitable in his personal proper, throwing for 22,814 yards, 122 touchdowns, and 84 interceptions on a 62.1-percent completion price throughout 11 skilled seasons, twice incomes Professional Bowl nods.
DiNucci started his collegiate profession with the Pitt Panthers, throwing for 1,107 yards, six touchdowns and 7 interceptions on 91-of-167 passing (54.5 %) throughout 11 video games from 2015-17.
He transferred to JMU in 2018 and noticed his numbers enhance as his years wore on. DiNucci completed with 5,716 yards, 46 TDs, and 18 INTs over 29 appearances. He saved his finest for final, finishing 70-percent of his makes an attempt in 2019 for 3,441 yards, 29 scores, and solely six picks, incomes AFCA First Workforce All-American honors.
A strict-ish pocket-thrower at 6-foot-2, 211 kilos, although he’s not the strongest or tallest, DiNucci prides himself on his ball placement and (perceived) dual-threat skill. His self-scouting report aligns with McCarthy’s.
“I’m an correct quarterback,” he stated in a post-draft convention name with Cowboys media, by way of The Athletic. “If the pocket breaks down I can use my legs and use some athleticism to do some issues which may current challenges for defenses. I’m gonna put my head down and go to work.”
The Cowboys have been linked to solely two signal-callers all through the pre-draft course of — Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, who went to the Eagles, and FIU’s James Morgan, who landed with the Jets — so their funding in DiNucci carries a good quantity of significance.
His arrival places strain on resident No. 2 QB Cooper Rush, who returned to Dallas this offseason by the use of a one-year restricted free-agent tender. The membership carried solely two QBs on the 53-man roster in 2019, with Rush claiming the backup job over Mike White.
The distinction? McCarthy has zero loyalty to Rush whereas he just about hand-picked Bulger DiNucci. It stays to be seen whether or not this provides the latter a leg up in an inevitable coaching camp competitors, however it definitely can’t harm his probabilities.
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