The franchise history is rich, the comparisons seemingly plentiful.

The Cowboys have a couple of Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman. They have quarterbacks who went to multi-conference championship games in Don Meredith and Danny White. They have another quarterback who sits atop all the franchise passing charts in Tony Romo.

But you can't really compare Dak Prescott to any of them. Staubach didn't start a game for the Cowboys until he was 27. Romo and White were both 26 when they made their starting debuts in Dallas. Aikman was only 22 when he hit an NFL field but didn't win a game as a rookie, losing all 11 of his starts. His first victory came in that second season at the age of 23.

Prescott is 23 but already has 10 victories on his scorecard as a rookie. So there really isn't a quarterback in the history of the Cowboys that has provided Prescott a road map to early success.

But there is one -- and only one -- in the history of football that has had the impact as a rookie that Prescott is having with the Cowboys.

Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben.

Like Prescott, the door opened for Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh because of an injury. Incumbent Tommy Maddox suffered ligament damage to his passing elbow in the second game of the 2004 season, paving a path to the field for Roethlisberger.

Even though he was a first-round draft pick, Roethlisberger was only 22 and was making the gigantic leap from the Mid-American Conference to the NFL.

"I was so blessed to have a great football team around me," Roethlisberger said. "Our defense was so good and, offensively, to have a great running game with Jerome [Bettis], plus Hines [Ward] and Plaxico [Burress at wide receiver] out there catching the ball. They made life a lot easier on me."

How easy? Roethlisberger won his first 14 NFL starts and took the Steelers to the AFC Championship Game as a rookie. He was 13-0 in the regular season, then beat the New York Jets in the AFC semifinals before suffering his first loss in the AFC title game to Tom Brady and the championship-bound Patriots. The Steelers led the NFL in defense that season and finished second in rushing.

Roethlisberger's 13 victories stand as an NFL record for a rookie quarterback. He completed 66.4 percent of his passes that season, another NFL rookie record. Prescott has a chance to topple both marks this season. His Cowboys are 10-1 with five games remaining in the regular season, and he's completing 67.9 percent of his passes.

Like Roethlisberger, Prescott has the offensive supporting cast. Ezekiel Elliott is his Jerome Bettis, Dez Bryant the downfield threat of Burress and Jason Witten the trusted hands of Ward. Prescott also has the benefit of three Pro Bowl blockers in front of him, as did Roethlisberger in 2004 (Marvel Smith, Alan Faneca and Jeff Hartings).

The biggest obstacle Roethlisberger faced that season was the mental and physical fatigue.

"People talk about the rookie wall," Roethlisberger said. "Usually it comes in Week 7, 8, 9 or 10 -- somewhere in there. It's hard because you go straight from playing college football, which is 12 or 14 games now, right into training for the draft, right into a team and then training camp. So really there's two years of nonstop football ... your legs aren't rested, your arm's not rested...

"To make that jump, not only are you physically exhausted, but you're playing against superior athletes and superior men. These college guys can say they're men, but until you get to the NFL, those are men. That's a big jump. That's the biggest thing to me -- while your body is still worn down to make a jump to a bigger, faster league."

Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan all won 11 games as rookie starters. But only Flacco of that group won a division title that season and only Flacco took his team to the conference championship game.

Kyle Orton won 10 games with the Chicago Bears in 2005, but that's it for rookie quarterbacks who were able to ring up double-digits in victories in the game's modern era (1960 on).

So Prescott, with his 10 victories, is already in an exclusive fraternity -- and he still has the entire month of December to play.

Luck passed for a rookie-record 4,374 yards in 2012. Prescott is on a pace to pass for 4,124 yards. Peyton Manning and Wilson share the rookie record with 26 touchdown passes. Prescott is on a pace to match that. Robert Griffin III holds the record for fewest interceptions by a rookie who was his team's primary starter (eight-plus starts) with five. Prescott is on a pace to throw only three interceptions.

Roethlisberger and Wilson won Super Bowls in their second seasons and Flacco had to wait until his fifth year. Roethlisberger has since won another Super Bowl and has been to three.

Prescott has ushered in an exciting new era of football in Dallas. And if history is any indication, this could be the start of something very special for the Cowboys.

Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis.

Twitter: @RickGosselinDMN