Mailbag: Adding running plays for Dak?

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

Do you think the new coaching staff will add some quarterback running plays to allow Dak Prescott to use his legs more this year? Or will they be too worried about him getting injured? – Walter DeBell/Troy, NY

Nick: Does Dak need to run more? Sure, that would help the entire offense. Will they dial up specifically plays for him to run? I don't see that happening. That's really two different things all together.

Let's be honest, Dak never really have designed running plays just for him. He's always been somewhat mobile but never to the point where he was the No. 1 option, aside from the occasional QB sneak or a Tush-Push in recent years. That's just not his game and especially not now after he suffered an off-the-bone injury to his hamstring. The irony of the injury was that occurred in the same game in which he was running better than he did all year.

I think the Cowboys are a better team when Dak is simply playing football than when he's sitting in the pocket and only making throws. If the Cowboys can find a healthy balance of Dak running when he can and playing it safe, that would be ideal.

Kurt: I think it's safe to say that Prescott's days as a true dual-threat quarterback are behind him. We learned a tough lesson last year when those of us who wanted him to run more promptly saw him rip his hamstring tendon from the bone after a scramble. Of course, he was lost for the season.

Even before that, though, Prescott wasn't running much. He was on pace to finish with only 115 rushing yards, which would have been the fewest of his career. That full-season total would have also ranked just 30th in the NFL, a measly eight yards ahead of the 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers.

Many now believe that teams need to have a dual-threat quarterback in order to be successful. Just look at the four quarterbacks left standing in the conference championship games last season: Jalen Hurts (Eagles), Jayden Daniels (Commanders), Josh Allen (Bills) and Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs). The first three all finished among the top-five quarterbacks in rushing yards while Mahomes obviously has proven in the past he can take off running.

It's doubtful Prescott will suddenly become a running quarterback again – he finished eighth in the NFL with 282 rushing yards as a rookie in 2016 – and he doesn't necessarily have to be for the Cowboys to win. Then again, figuring out a way to at least make teams think he might pose such a threat could only help the offense.