Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had to leave the field in a hurry when he suffered an injury in his throwing hand in his side’s week 1 game against Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Cowboys were defeated 19-3 against the Bucs and later, news emerged that Prescott will be undergoing surgery on his right thumb and has been ruled out for 6-8 weeks.

The injury comes as a shock to the Cowboys, who replaced Prescott with Cooper Rush for the last six minutes. However, missing the primary quarterback in the first game of the season can be tough for any team. Let’s take a look at who can replace Dak Prescott at Dallas Cowboys.

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Cooper Rush

Rush replaced Prescott for the last six minutes of the game against the Bucs on Sunday. He completed 7 out of 13 passes for 64 yards. He knows the Cowboys’ offense and was also the backup quarterback in the 2021 season. Rush replaced Prescott last year against the Vikings and completed 24 passes for 325 yards while registering 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He completed 30 out of 47 passes for 422 yards, along with 1 interception last year in five matches.

In college football, Rush completed 62% of the total passes for 12,891 yards and registered 90 touchdowns and 55 interceptions across four seasons.

Jimmy Garoppolo

While this remains very unlikely, the fact is the Cowboys need a quarterback. The San Francisco 49ers already have Trey Lance and Jimmy has prior experience leading a team in the NFC championship. He is also the highest-paid backup quarterback in the NFL currently.

Garoppolo completed 331 passes (68.3%) in the 2021 season for 3,810 yards, along with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. 

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Will Grier

27-year-old Grier also has a chance to replace Prescott. He is on the Cowboys’ practice squad and will be made part of the main squad if the team decides to not look outside. Rush, who replaced Prescott in the last game, was part of the practice squad with Grier also, which means Grier also has a chance of starting.

However, Grier does not have a very good record in the NFL. He made his NFL debut in 2019 against the Colts for the Panthers. The quarterback completed 27 out of 44 passes for 224 yards in the game but did not register a touchdown. He played against the Saints as well, when he completed 1 pass out of 8 for 4 yards and a pick before suffering an injury in his foot. He has completed a meagre 53% of his passes and has registered 0 touchdowns in his NFL career.

Cam Newton

One of the best free agents in the market, Newton will certainly be attracting interest from the Cowboys. However, there are concerns that he is past his prime.  

In the last two years with the Patriots and the Panthers, he had completed 63% of his passes for 3,341 yards, along with 12 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He also registered 184 rushes for 822 yards and 17 touchdowns.

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Ryan Fitzpatrick

The 39-year-old retired after last season but might come out of retirement if the right opportunity arose. He will not cost much for the Cowboys and has been used as a short-term player by multiple teams. Fitzpatrick has made 147 appearances for nine NFL teams in his career and was Wahington’s starting quarterback in the 2021 season before he was injured in the opening week. That was also his final NFL game.

Other options

Ben DiNucci, 25, is a free agent currently and might make a return to the Cowboys. James Madison, who made three appearances in 2020, one of which being against the Eagles might also be back. Madison completed 21 out of 40 passes for 180 yards against the Eagles when the Cowboys were handed a 23-9 defeat.