Expectations could not be higher for Dak Prescott as he enters year 6 in the NFL and his first season since signing his long-term contract that currently has him as the NFLs highest paid player per season. 

The Cowboys completed their first training camp practice on Thursday and Dak is “full go,” according to head coach Mike McCarthy after the team held Dak out of team drills during the offseason. 

On Thursday in the teams first practice of 2021 training camp, Dak did miss some throws but more importantly, he was looking like himself as far as moving around on the field. 

The team is off on Friday and will resume practice on Saturday.

Former Dallas Cowboy Marcus Spears said on ESPN that Prescott would be Patrick Mahomes’ biggest challenger for MVP in 2021. 

Prescott is the favorite to win ‘Comeback Player of the year’ and has the 8th best odds to win NFL MVP, tied with Russell Wilson and Justin Herbert. 

The only quarterbacks ahead of him are, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Matthew Stafford and Tom Brady. 

Since 2000, only four non quarterbacks have won the award. Marshall Faulk in 2000, Shaun Alexander in 2005, LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 and most recently Adrian Peterson in 2012. 

The only Cowboy to bring home the award was Emmitt Smith in 1993. 

How realistic is winning MVP for Prescott in 2021? 

Here are the most recent MVP winners and how they fared during their MVP seasons. 

2020 – Aaron Rodgers 13-3  record 

4299 passing yards (7th in NFL) 

48TDs (1st in NFL) 

5INTs 

LOST IN NFCCG 

2019 – Lamar Jackson 13 -2 record

3127 passing yards ( 22nd in NFL )

36 PASS TDs (1st in NFL) 

6INTs 

1206 rushing yards (6th in NFL) 7 RUSH TDs 

LOST in WILD CARD round

2018 – Patrick Mahomes 12-4 record 

5097 passing yards ( 2nd in NFL ) 

50TDs (1st in NFL) 

12INTs 

LOST IN AFCCG 

2017 – Tom Brady 13-3 record 

4577 passing yards (1st in NFL) 

32TDs (3rd in NFL) 

8INTs 

LOST IN SUPER BOWL 

2016 – Matt Ryan  11-5 record 

4944 passing yards (2nd in NFL) 

38TDs (2nd in NFL) 

7INTs 

LOST IN SUPER BOWL 

2015 – Cam Newton 15-1 record 

3837 passing yards (16th in NFL) 

35TDs (4th in NFL) 

10INTs 

636 rushing yards 10RUSH TDs (Tied for 2nd)

LOST IN SUPER BOWL 

After taking that information in, I came up with a few different goals for Dak in 2021 to put himself in the MVP conversation. 

Team success is the first goal. The team must win 12 or 13 games. 

Dak needs to finish top 5 in passing yards and passing touchdowns. 

The total number of touchdowns needs to be around 44-48. Dak has never thrown for more than 30 touchdowns in a season and never rushed for more than 6. 

However, here are his stats in his last 16 games played. 

Dak Prescott’s last 16 starts:

5,411 yards and 34 touchdowns.