Chip Kelly on Dak Prescott: “I’ve been very impressed with him”

During this year's NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected cornerback Rashard Robinson with the 133rd overall selection. with the 135th overall selection, the Dallas Cowboys selected quarterback Dak Prescott. 72 picks later, the 49ers selected quarterback Jeff Driskel in the sixth round. Driskel is now a member of the Cincinnati Bengals having failed to make the 49ers' 53-man roster and then not clearing waivers to be signed to the practice squad.

Since then, Prescott has started the Cowboys' first three games in place of the injured Tony Romo and led them to a 2-1 record. He has completed 66.7-percent of his passes for 767 yards and a touchdown. Prescott has a passer rating of 93.3. By comparison, over the same timeframe, 49ers starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert was completed 55.2-percent of his passes for 532 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. That's good enough for a 68.6 passer rating. In his defense, Gabbert has faced much tougher competition than Prescott has.

	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Int	Rate
B. Gabbert	53	96	55.2	532	3	3	68.6
D. Prescott	66	99	66.7	767	1	0	93.3

"The Cowboys have one of the league's premier offensive lines and in front of a promising young running back Ezekiel Elliot, the recent fourth-overall pick," points out Chris Biderman of Niners Wire.

As the 49ers prepare to host the Cowboys on Sunday, head coach Chip Kelly was asked about Prescott. Was he someone that the team took a look at prior to the draft?

"We looked at him just like all quarterbacks in the draft and were really impressed with him and thought that he was someone that could really play in the league," Kelly said. "It's just, where it fell in terms of what we were taking – you know, he was kind of slotted around where he was taken and that's kind of where we thought he was going to go. But I've been very impressed with him. I think, not only his athletic ability, but his poise and kind of sense of calm that he has about him in terms of playing the game. It doesn't seem like it's happening too fast for him and he's done a great job in the first three games."

Kelly was asked if he had much contact with Prescott prior to the draft. "That's a question for the personnel department. I didn't, no. But I'm sure our personnel department did."

The 49ers and Cowboys will kick off on Sunday, October 2 at 1:25 p.m. The game will take place at Levi's Stadium.