Before the 2025 season went sideways for the Dallas Cowboys, there was a point where Dak Prescott was on the fringes of our MVP race. As he came back from injury for a historic campaign, the Comeback Player of the Year was also floated for the 32-year-old. He never got the award, and the Cowboys never got to the playoffs. However, with the 2026 season set to start in three months,  Prescott is already making noise as he featured in ESPN’s top 10 MVP candidates list. making the climb up in ESPN’s potential MVP candidates list.

“Prescott’s incredible 2025 campaign was overlooked due to his team’s lackluster defense, but I felt he was actually the second-most valuable player in the league last season (and ahead of Matthew Stafford),” Seth Walder wrote on ESPN. “If he plays the same way, and the Cowboys’ defense can be even just mediocre, Prescott will be an MVP candidate.”

The favorite to win the MVP trophy, according to Walder, was Josh Allen. The likes of Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Drake Maye, and Justin Herbert rounded out the Top 5. Prescott’s name was sixth on the list, and he featured ahead of  Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, and the reigning MVP, Matthew Stafford. For many of the players on the list, their MVP case depends on recovery, scheme fit, or their supporting cast clicking, but for Prescott, it depends on his defense not costing him wins.

“It’s exciting knowing that, in Year 10, I’m playing my best,” Dallas Cowboys franchise quarterback Dak Prescott admitted after his Week 16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers last season. “I’m only going to get better, in my mind, about the way that I work and what I put into this game.”

Last season, even with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb missing three games with a high ankle sprain, the offense never slowed down. Credit for that goes to Prescott, who threw for 4,552 yards and had 30 touchdowns. Last year’s explosive receiver addition, George Pickens, led the team with 1,429 yards. Tight end Jake Ferguson stepped up in big moments and delivered eight scores. Even running back Javonte Williams ran wild for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns. The offense, in short, was mostly unstoppable.

The only problem for them was their defense, which was historically bad, conceding the most points in franchise history. However, they have worked on solving the defensive lapses throughout the offseason. New defensive coordinator Christian Parker led the rebuild and drafted stars like safety Caleb Downs and pass rusher Malachi Lawrence, who are already turning heads. Owner/general manager Jerry Jones had already called it like it is after the draft:

“We’ve changed this defense,” Jerry said. “What you’re seeing going on right now is a product of three or four of five years of maybe more that we just haven’t been able to ultimately get where we’re trying to go and be a contender. It’s going to be different, it’s going to be fresh; we’ve got a lot of great energy here.”

If the offense is exactly where it was last season (second-best in the league), or gets even better and the defense cleans up the mistakes last season, the road to the playoffs – and Dak’s MVP contention – gets that much easier.

ESPN’s betting analyst Pamela Maldonado has already found a line she likes. She lists Prescott as the “next player to record 400-plus pass yards in a game” with +1000 odds, targeting a Week 2 home game against the Washington Commanders.

“The Cowboys play Washington at home in Week 2, and the path is very easy to visualize: volume, aggressiveness, game environment, receiver upside, and a willingness to keep throwing,” writes Maldonado. “Prescott threw for over 4,500 yards last season, and Washington had the third-worst coverage grade and second-worst rate of touchdowns allowed. It’s not a bet on certainty, but could it realistically be Prescott? Yes.”

Prescott upstaged the Commanders both times he faced them last season. The first was a 44-22 blowout in Week 7, and the second was a 30-23 Christmas Day (Week 17) victory. As far as NFC East battles go, Dallas has always put up fireworks, and things shouldn’t be any different this year either.

Apart from Prescott’s early MVP vote, the Cowboys have also earned another big mention from the analysts for the team’s overall turnaround this offseason. The league sees the Dallas roster as a whole in a much different place than it was a year ago.

The Cowboys’ bigger picture

ESPN analyst Matt Bowen names the Cowboys the most improved team heading into 2026, ahead of the Bengals, Saints, Giants, and the Raiders.

“The Cowboys can score points,” Bowen writes. “With QB Dak Prescott, WRs CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, and the run game balance, Dallas averaged 26.6 points per game last season. But the key for 2026 is the defensive upgrades.”

“New coordinator Christian Parker will bring elements of Vic Fangio’s system to Dallas,” he added. “Edge rushers Rashan Gary and Malachi Lawrence, as well as safety Caleb Downs, boost the Cowboys’ impact play ability. This team should compete for the NFC East title.”

Dallas didn’t need to replace a quarterback, rebuild the line, or reset the receiving corps. They needed a defense that didn’t give away a league-worst 30.1 points per game. They’ve got that defense now.

Caleb Downs already knows the playbook inside out, and Rashan Gary has 46.5 career sacks. Newly acquired cornerback Cobie Durant held a starting role in a Fangio-style defense with the Los Angeles Rams for the last two seasons. This is a group ready to sync with the infrastructure around them.

Dak Prescott doesn’t need a great defense, though. He needs exactly what Walder said: ‘mediocre’. The only thing this defense has to do is keep Dallas competitive into the fourth quarter while Prescott racks up the stats, wins, and the narrative that MVP voters respond to. That’s what makes the Dallas Cowboys more dangerous than ever heading into the 2026 season.