Cowboys Gameday: Top 3 Joe Milton Takes In Bid To Win No. 2 QB Job

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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton has been the star of the team's two preseason games, with the battle for the backup role heating up.

For most, Milton's super impressive half against the Arizona Cardinals, in which he went 9 of 13 for 179 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for a touchdown, solidified his standing on the roster.

Of course, Sam Howell isn't going down without a fight, but he made a big mistake in Arizona with an interception in the red zone.

Milton has been mistake-free in two games, so he might have the edge.

But in all likelihood, it will be down to the third preseason game at 7 tonight at home against the New Orleans Saints that will decide who backs up Dak Prescott.

Here are three big takeaways from Milton's preseason.

No. 1 – His touch has improved out of sight:

Last offseason, it was a bullet every time Joe threw the football, even on a 12-yard in-breaking route, and the ball would bounce off the receiver's hands.

Now? We have seen him apply touch to his passes- one to Malik Davis on a scramble, another to Camden Brown as his development in that area is night and day from where it was last offseason.

"Probably the touch that he was throwing the ball with," Schottenheimer said on what impressed him the most against Arizona. "I think the touch on the double move
to Mingo was a beautiful throw, the touch on the scramble play to
Camden Brown was a beautiful deal.

"Honestly, last year this time, on
the touchdown to Malik, he probably would have put a dent
in Malik's chest. So, two really good performances."

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No. 2 – Howell signing lit a fire:

When the Cowboys signed Howell this offseason, it was for one of two reasons.

One was to light a fire under Milton to develop in the way Dallas wanted. The other was that they viewed Howell as the better quarterback.

Well, through two preseason games, Milton has been the better player, and we know of his physical traits, but now that he's pairing that with playing the position in the way Schottenheimer wants, making checks, etc, we are seeing a big difference.

"I think it probably got his attention," Schottenheimer said of the Howell signing. "To be fair to Joe, this is not the easiest system to
learn. We ask a lot of our players, certainly the quarterback position.

"We have a lot of offense that we use, and that's
one of the benefits that Dak, and CeeDee, and the guys that have been around
the system with me, and going back to Mike [McCarthy] helps. He's in a
much different place right now in terms of his
understanding of what we do."

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No. 3 – Familiarity in offense a big help:

It might be a forgotten part of Milton performing the way he has. It's his second year in the same system.

Last year was a bit of a whirlwind for Joe, with Schottenheimer coming in, and learning that the system takes time, and now we are seeing the benefits of Joe having another full year with the same scheme.

And Schottenheimer detailed just how much has changed from this year to last, and the teachings Milton had to go through.

"Yeah, I think [its] part of it," Schottenheimer said on the offensive continuity helping Milton. "Here's
a guy that his entire career, he's been no-huddle. So the things that we asked
him to do last year were very new to him. He didn't have a great, pure, or clear understanding of the entire system.

"I think this year he does, and that allows him to go out and play
free, play confident, change some things. I think the more he's used to
this system and hearing my voice, I think all those
things factor into a quarterback going, "Okay, I can play free because I understand what to expect."

So, it has been a huge offseason for Milton as he is developing into the quarterback the Cowboys wanted him to be when they traded for him.

With the three reasons we mentioned above, he is the catalyst for him going from a physical beast and a pure developmental quarterback to a player who has a complete mastery of the system and is starting to look like a proper NFL quarterback.

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