{"id":51456,"date":"2025-05-27T02:40:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T02:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=51456"},"modified":"2025-05-27T02:40:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T02:40:54","slug":"former-highly-touted-qb-surprisingly-predicted-to-be-on-cowboys-third-string","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=51456","title":{"rendered":"Former Highly Touted QB Surprisingly Predicted To Be on Cowboys Third String"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Cowboys-Sign-Rasul-Douglas.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Cowboys-Sign-Rasul-Douglas.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Cowboys-Sign-Rasul-Douglas.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Cowboys-Sign-Rasul-Douglas.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Brian Schottenheimer\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-dom-ready-time=\"614\" data-img-load-time=\"1052\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer faces some major challenges.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>There is little doubt who will be the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0starting quarterback as Dak Prescott is expected to be fully healthy in time for training camp. The real question is who will be Prescott\u2019s new backup with Cooper Rush and Trey Lance both departing Big D during NFL free agency.<\/p>\n<p>Dallas acquired\u00a0Joe Milton\u00a0in a trade with the New England Patriots this offseason. Yet, not everyone is convinced that Milton will win the backup role.<\/p>\n<p>Athlon Sports\u2019 Mike Fisher\u2019s latest Cowboys depth chart surprisingly has Milton as the Cowboys third-string quarterback. The Cowboys insider believes it will instead be Will Grier who is the new Dallas backup quarterback.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe big watch here, is who will back him (Prescott) up,\u201d Fisher wrote in a May 19, 2025, story titled, \u201cGeorge Pickens Leads New Cowboys 53-Man Roster Projection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrier returns to the Cowboys still under contract, but has seen very little time away from the practice squad. He does have familiarity with the building over sophomore stud Joe Milton, however, who was acquired in a trade with New England earlier this offseason,\u201d Fisher continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBackup quarterback is one of many competitions throughout the roster worth keeping tabs on at camp.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>QB Joe Milton Fell to the 6th Round of the 2024 NFL Draft<\/h2>\n<p>The former Tennessee Volunteers standout quarterback entered the NFL with plenty of promise, especially after showing off his impressive arm strength during the pre-draft process. Yet, Milton slipped to the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft before the Patriots stopped his slide. Here is how\u00a0NFL.com\u2019s Lance Zierlein\u00a0described Milton as a pro prospect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRare physical specimen with the proverbial \u2018arm talent to make all the NFL throws,\u2019 but he\u2019s prevented from doing so by a lack of timing, accuracy and touch,\u201d Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft profile of the quarterback. \u201cMilton is gifted with a cannon for a right arm and can throw the ball as hard or as far as you want.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis fastballs are often inaccurate and difficult to catch for moving targets, and he was wildly inconsistent locating his deep throws. He can elude pressure, extend plays and put jaw-dropping highlights on tape, but he\u2019s never been able to mature his game from splashy to consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer on Joe Milton: \u2018The Work Ethic Is Incredible\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Given the Cowboys pushed to trade for Milton, it would be a surprise if the quarterback is not given every opportunity to win the backup job. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer sounds like a major fan of Milton.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was excited about Joe before we got him,\u201d Schottenheimer explained on May 21,\u00a0per The Athletic\u2019s Jon Machota. \u201cWhen you go into these deals and you\u2019re talking about making trades, we all reach out to people that you know, people that you trust, people that have been exposed to said player at college, different programs, friends that have been around him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 But from the time he\u2019s been here, the work ethic is incredible. He\u2019s one of the first people in the building. He\u2019s one of the last to leave. The way he\u2019s attacked the playbook and picking it up has been incredible. And it\u2019s been fun for me to watch Dak and Will, but really Dak take a mentorship role with Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer faces some major challenges. There is little doubt who will be the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0starting quarterback as Dak Prescott is expected to be&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Highly Touted QB Surprisingly Predicted To Be on Cowboys Third String - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=51456\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Highly Touted QB Surprisingly Predicted To Be on Cowboys Third String - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer faces some major challenges. 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