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Ben DiNucci
For a seventh-round draft decide seemingly ticketed for the observe squad, Dallas Cowboys rookie quarterback Ben DiNucci’s future might look worse.
His coach sees a possible incarnation of former Professional Bowler Marc Bulger, which in itself is a stretch. And his boss likened DiNucci to franchise legend Tony Romo, which is … one thing else.
“(McCarthy) mentioned he’s a baller. He’s very athletic. Actually nobody is saying he’s, however for those who keep in mind, Tony Romo was a university free agent,” Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones mentioned Friday on SiriusXM NFL Radio, per The Athletic. “(Ben) has a few of these kind of instruments, instinctive and appears to make performs.”
DiNucci, a James Madison product, and Romo, who performed collegiately at Japanese Illinois, each hail from small, non-descript applications. They each stand 6-foot-2. They’re each heady gamers. They each can say they’ve donned the star.
That’s the place any similarities finish.
In contrast to DiNucci, Romo was a real gunslinger with a lightning-quick launch and magical improvisational means contained in the pocket, a sixth sense that carried over to his post-retirement gig as CBS Sports activities’ prime coloration commentator. He made 4 Professional Bowls, led the NFL in passer score (2014), and accrued greater than 34,000 air yards over a glowing 14-year profession that cemented him among the many biggest signal-callers in Cowboys lore.
DiNucci, suffice to say, has a methods to go. The one-time Pitt passer completed his JMU tenure with 5,716 yards, 46 TDs, and 18 interceptions throughout 29 video games. 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 Crew All-American honors.
Though correct and able to utilizing his legs, DiNucci’s bodily limitations cap his upside as a No. Three QB on the skilled stage. Such is the explanation he almost went undrafted and possibly would have if McCarthy’s brother wasn’t DiNucci’s eighth-grade basketball coach.
McCarthy, although, genuinely preferred what he noticed on tape, sufficient to attract a comparability between DiNucci and the ex-Rams starter.
“He’s very correct,” McCarthy in his post-draft convention name, through The Athletic. “He jogs my memory of a younger Marc Bulger.”
However not sufficient to station him behind Dak. The Cowboys tapped Andy Dalton for that position, signing him shortly after the draft — an indictment on DiNucci’s short-term prospects.
With Cooper Rush not within the constructing, DiNucci will take up the whole lot of third-string “reps” throughout the membership’s digital offseason program and, if relevant, coaching camp. Then Dallas assuredly will waive DiNucci round ultimate cuts and try to deliver him again to the taxi squad, the place he’ll proceed his growth, barring the unexpected.
In different phrases, there’s zero assure DiNucci will pan out within the slightest, not to mention succeed Dalton as Prescott’s understudy.
The Romo dot-connecting? Take it with an industrial-size grain of salt. It’s utterly quixotic, even for the Cowboys’ requirements.
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