Despite taking a significant step back as a team last season, the Dallas Cowboys enter 2025 with clear playoff expectations. Having achieved 12 wins in each of the three seasons prior to last, the Cowboys think of 2024 as an outlier and not an omen of things to come. They believe they’ve rebuilt and rehabilitated the roster into a winner this season and have the depth to overcome more than a few unavoidable road bumps along the way.
One bump the Cowboys desperately hope to avoid this season is an injury to starting quarterback Dak Prescott. Arguably the franchise’s most important player, Prescott has missed at least five games in three of the last five seasons. The Cowboys ability to survive his injuries has been key to their success and in 2025, that responsibility might land at the feet of Will Grier.
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For the last several years, Cooper Rush has held that role of a security blanket for Prescott.
Rush famously filled in during the 2022 season, going a cool 4-1 as a replacement. He may not have lit the league on fire but his solid, yet unspectacular play kept the Cowboys in most contests. In the 2025 the Cowboys will have to do it without their trusty blanket since Rush is now suiting up behind Lamar Jackson in Baltimore.
The 30-year-old veteran has been lurking in the shadows over the years, and this season may finally be his time to shine. While the newly acquired Joe Milton gets all the headlines, it’s Grier who’s expected to deliver the stability and consistency a top backup is expected to bring.
The man behind the beard has made occasional appearances in the preseason, but aside from two games with the Panthers in 2019, Grier has yet to take a meaningful snap in the NFL. The former third-round pick knows the system and he’s taken the reps, the only thing left for him is to step up and show he can be the reliable presence Rush was for so many years.
As far as raw ability, Grier brings more to the table than his predecessor but anyone close to the game knows QB is only partially about physical skills. It’s consistency, knowledge and processing speed that often separates the winners from the losers in training camp battles.
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Not many people are talking about Grier this offseason but he’s the man in position to win the QB2 spot and that’s the spot that might be needed to keep the Cowboys postseason hopes alive.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys QB Will Grier may have huge role in club’s success in 2025