With Andy Dalton sidelined due to a concussion, The Athletic’s Jon Machota has confirmed that Ben DiNucci will likely be the starter for the Dallas Cowboys. In a pivotal game with the 2-4-1 Philadelphia Eagles, this could make or break the season for the 2-5 Cowboys.
The team drafted DiNucci No. 231 overall, taking the James Madison quarterback in the seventh round.
He began his career at Pittsburgh before transferring to James Madison. He earned CAA Offensive Player of the Year in 2019 after throwing for 3,441 yards and 29 touchdowns. His completion percentage of 70.9% led the nation.
In terms of NFL success, DiNucci was thrown into the fire. However, running back Ezekiel Elliott said that the rookie is doing everything he can to prepare for Sunday.
“Ben’s been up here relentlessly here in the last 48 hours,” said Elliott, via ESPN’s Todd Archer. “He’s pouring everything that he personally can into this opportunity that may be in front of him,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “He’ll get pretty much all the work this week because I don’t see Andy coming back (until) at the end of the week at the earliest.”
Elliott knows that DiNucci is an under the radar quarterback, but believes that he possesses talent to lead the team to victory.
“Honestly I wouldn’t even know where to find Ben DiNucci’s college tape,” Elliott said, via Archer. “I think just from being around him for the past 2-3 months, I can see his arm talent, see his ability to move around and make throws, but, yeah we’re not going to go back and look at his college tape. We’re just going to play our football and I think it’ll be fine.”