In 2016, the Dallas Cowboys opened training camp with Tony Romo as their starting quarterback and Kellen Moore as his backup. The Cowboys also drafted a young quarterback named Dak Prescott to work as a third-string option and maybe compete with Moore for the starting job. By the time the season started, Romo and Moore were both on the injured reserve and Prescott was the starter. After an amazing season, Romo is now retired and Moore is back hoping to win the backup job again behind Prescott this time.
Kellen Moore’s injury
Kellen Moore came to the Dallas Cowboys with a great chance to become Tony Romo’s backup thanks to his relationship with offensive coordinator Scott Linehan when the two were together at the Detroit Lions.
He had the inside track to beat out Dak Prescott for the job until his injury ended his season. Now, with Tony Romo gone, Moore is trying to win that backup job again after recovering from a right ankle injury.
The injury itself was caused when guard Jared Smith was pushed back in the pocket in the first week of training camp last year and stepped on Kellen Moore’s right ankle. He rolled on it and his season was finished.
The 2017 chances for Kellen Moore
The good news for Kellen Moore is that the Dallas Cowboys seem to have faith in him. The team could have signed Josh McCown to come in and back up Dak Prescott. McCown has a lot of NFL experience and is the kind of veteran backup quarterback Jerry Jones has always liked.
However, Jones chose to ignore higher priced backups and gave Moore a one-year deal worth $775,000 and they haven’t even considered looking at anyone else yet.
When talking about Kellen Moore, it doesn’t sound like the Dallas Cowboys will either. Linehan said that Moore “sees” that is happening on the field and “anticipates” where the open receiver will be.
Linehan said that Moore can hit moving targets and that is something many quarterbacks can’t do – which is why many don’t last in the NFL. Linehan also said that Moore can play well even if he doesn’t get a lot of reps, which is very important for a backup quarterback.
Kellen Moore said that he wants to play, just as everyone on the team does, and sitting out injured was frustrating.
He did say that Dak Prescott is a great quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and he is in a great situation. Moore feels comfortable that he is ready to come in and back him up this year. While Moore has only played in three NFL games, Scott Linehan feels comfortable with him as well and feels Moore can do big things in the Cowboys’ system.
