Tony Romo is gone, yup, but it is not the end of the world, right!? Cowboys now have a task of replacing him with someone like or, preferably, way better than him and I believe that they are on top of something good. As it seems, Cowboys think they have that (Romo) something, and that it’s hidden in Cooper Rush.
Rush is by all standards an unfinished Tony Romo, meaning the undrafted college free agent signed in 2003 who spent three years in a quarterback incubator watching and learning how the position should be played. It will be a great new project worth developing and who fits the bill better than Cooper Rush who was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan, where he was a four-year starter who threw 1,648 passes. He started 50 games and passed for 12,891 yards and 90 touchdowns. Thanks to these accomplishments he was ahead of some NFL players like Ben Roethlisberger, Chad Pennington, and Byron Leftwich, especially when the all-time Mid-American Conference passing list is considered.
To show you that Rush is on the right track here are some stats that show just how amazing he is. Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton were four-year starters in college who threw more than 1,300 career passes, and all of you know that all five of them have been to the Pro Bowl, and Manning and Wilson have won Super Bowls. But that is not all because Manning, Wilson, and Rivers have also won NFL passing titles.
There is also the other side to the entire thing, mainly because four years as a college starter do not guarantee success and the best proof of that are Kyle Boller, David Greene and Brady Quinn. The fact that Rush spent all that time in a quarterback incubator might do him good like it did to Brady who sat for a year, and Rodgers and Romo who waited three years apiece. Rush is also a guy that comes from a conference which produced Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Khalil Mack, Eric Fisher and Corey Davis and they are not players you can neglect in any way.
If you do not know this, Rush has been exposed to power five competition. He started against Michigan State, Minnesota, and Purdue from the Big Ten, Kansas and Oklahoma State from the Big 12, and North Carolina State, Syracuse, and Virginia from the Atlantic Coast Conference. He passed for 430 yards against Syracuse, 402 yards against Virginia, and 368 yards and four touchdowns in a stunning road upset of No. 11 Oklahoma State in 2016. But this was all not that important. What actually brought Rush to NFL was the 2014 Bahamas Bowl. Rush completed 28 of 45 passes for 493 yards and produced NCAA bowl-record seven touchdowns in a 49-48 loss to Western Kentucky, but he showed more than his arm in that game.
Central Michigan coach John Bonamego said that “Pressure brings out the best in Cooper,” and added “Look at him in the fourth quarter. Look at him in Hail Mary situations. When the game is on the line, he finds a way. I would never count him out any time at anything.” This all just proves what kind of player Rush actually is, but there is one big question! Can he be the new Tony Romo? Time will tell.
