This was supposed to be a post about Josh Norman. But while I was reviewing the tape of the Dallas-Washington game, I came across this play made by Cowboys rookie QB Dak Prescott and it stopped me in my tracks.

It was all I needed to see to conclude that Prescott is going to be a star.

Here’s the play:

Let’s break down what we just saw.

Prescott sets this play up with fantastic work before the snap. We have no way of knowing what the original play call was but Prescott changes it after reading the defense.

This shows two things: (1) The Cowboys have enough confidence in the rookie’s understanding of the offense to afford him the ability make changes at the line, and (2) Prescott is able to recognize what coverages a defense is in and how to beat them.

The Redskins were actually doing a decent job of describing their coverage before the snap. Both safeties initially lined up deep, but DeAngelo Hall rotated down, creating a one-high look.

Now, here’s the play Prescott called at the line.

Focus on the three-man route combo (the yellow routes) to the bottom of the picture. The Cowboys are trying to create a window for Dez Bryant on the deep crossing route. The stop routes by Jason Witten and Ezekiel Elliott are meant to stretch the second level defenders horizontally, opening up a passing lane.

At the start of the play, Prescott is keying in on Hall, who’s sitting right in that passing lane. Hall is the one guy Prescott has to beat to make this throw possible.

What happens next is why I think Prescott is going to be very good. Prescott toys with Hall using just his eyes. He wants Bryant for the first down all the way but looks at Witten to the right. That gets Hall moving that way.

Then his eyes move back to the left, that gets Hall running toward Elliott. It’s like Prescott has control over Hall’s mind.

The entire time, Prescott has his feet ready to fire off a quick, accurate ball to Bryant. And that’s exactly what happens.

To recap, Prescott…

1. Read the defense correctly before the snap

2. Got the team into the right play call

3. Recognized the problem player on the defense

4. Manipulated that player with his eyes to open up the passing lane

5. Made an accurate throw downfield for the first down.

Now, none of these steps seem very difficult on their own, but he’s doing all of this in a matter of seconds. There are only a handful of quarterbacks in the league making these kinds of plays consistently. Those are guys are named Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Cam Newton. That Prescott was able to do it in only his second start bodes very well.

Remember, this a guy who wasn’t supposed to be very good in the pocket. A guy who spent his entire college career in the kind of spread offense that has created a “quarterback crisis” in the NFL. Two games into his pro career, and Prescott has already proven he belongs.