Dallas Cowboys players sound off ahead of Ben DiNucci's first start
Ben DiNucci is set to make his first career NFL start this Sunday as the Dallas Cowboys take on the Philadelphia Eagles on NBC's Sunday Night Football. Football fans everywhere will be tuned into watch the 2-5 Cowboys, led by seventh-round rookie DiNucci, take on the 2-4-1 Eagles. There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding […]
Ben DiNucci is set to make his first career NFL start this Sunday as the Dallas Cowboys take on the Philadelphia Eagles on NBC's Sunday Night Football. Football fans everywhere will be tuned into watch the 2-5 Cowboys, led by seventh-round rookie DiNucci, take on the 2-4-1 Eagles.
There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Cowboys offense ahead of DiNucci's first start. One promising element of DiNucci's game is that he showed the ability to create plays with his legs during his career at James Madison. That should be a plus given the state of the Dallas Cowboys offensive line.
A big positive for DiNucci, and the Cowboys offense as a whole, is that All-Pro guard Zack Martin looks to be ready to go for Sunday night's battle with Philadelphia. Martin missed week seven after suffering a concussion against the Arizona Cardinals in week six. The Cowboys saw Martin return to practice earlier this week, a good sign for an otherwise depleted offensive line in Dallas.
Gucci DiNucci
In advance of DiNucci's first career start, a nickname has taken off for the rookie signal-caller. Barstool's PFTCommenter tweeted out the nickname on Thursday, and many on Cowboys Twitter have ran with it.
Ezekiel Elliott on DiNucci: "He's got a little s–t to him"
It is important for any quarterback to have the support of his teammates. That is even more true in this situation, as DiNucci makes his first start in an unusual scenario — both the top two quarterbacks are out with injury, and he had no real offseason to prepare like signal-callers in previous draft classes.
Zeke is one of the more important players on this team, but he has not been himself this season. Elliott has put the ball on the turf too many times, and he appears to have lost some of the explosiveness that made him so special earlier in his career. As he tries to rebound, Elliott had some positive things to say about DiNucci.
Michael Gallup on DiNucci: "He's slinging that thing."
A good wide receiver corps always makes a quarterback's job a little easier, and the Dallas Cowboys certainly have a talented group of pass catchers for DiNucci to get the ball to.
Michael Gallup is one of the talented receivers on the Cowboys roster, and he had some good things to say about the quarterback that is starting on Sunday night versus the Eagles.
Jaylon Smith on DiNucci: "Full of confidence."
Jaylon Smith has not had the best season in 2020 — to say the least. The 2016 second-rounder turned in a productive 2018 campaign, but he has otherwise been disappointing on the field for the Cowboys.
He is not alone in his performance through seven weeks, as the entire defense as a whole has been extremely underwhelming. We will see what the remaining of the season brings for Smith and company.
Smith joined Elliott and Gallup in saying positive comments regarding DiNucci, saying that the rookie is "full of confidence".
Dak Prescott told DiNicci "he'd be great".
It is no secret how much Dak Prescott means to the Dallas Cowboys organization. The fifth-year quarterback is the heart and the soul of this team, and his injury hit many players on the team hard, based on the reactions that he received afterwards.
Despite not playing for the remainder of the season, Prescott is still showing his leadership skills around the building. Prescott gave some words of encouragement to DiNucci as he prepares for his first ever start.
Dak's first ever start came because of an injury to the starting quarterback and so will DiNucci's.
The Dallas Cowboys are a half game back in the NFC East going into Sunday night's matchup with the Eagles, and the team looks to be rallying behind Ben DiNucci.
Featured image via AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
