Ex-Texas football QB Garrett Gilbert favorited to be Cowboys backup?

We are getting closer and closer to the start of Training Camp and the preseason for a number of former Texas football players in the NFL this year. And one particular Texas Ex is getting a lot of attention just ahead of the start of Training Camp around the NFL this summer. Former Texas quarterback and five-star recruit Garrett Gilbert is actually vying for a backup job this year.

The former Longhorn and SMU Mustang Gilbert is currently rostered with the Dallas Cowboys and could be playing behind standout quarterback Dak Prescott this season. Gilbert found somewhat of a resurgence in his professional football career in the last few years. After he was named the MVP of the Alliance of American Football for roughly a half-season played, Gilbert found a lot of traction in the NFL for the first time.

Gilbert even got his first career start last season with the Cowboys, in what amounted to a close loss at the hands of future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In that one start of his career which came last season, Gilbert registered 243 passing yards, on a completion percentage just above 55, one passing touchdown, and one interception.

Media buzz surrounding former Texas football QB Garrett Gilbert and the Cowboys’ depth chart

There is now buzz around the media landscape that the Cowboys could be looking at a situation where Gilbert is the starting quarterback next season. And some among the media and fan circles of the Cowboys are sounding the alarm for that reason.

Blogging the Boys (SB Nation’s Cowboys’ fan page) published a piece earlier this offseason about how the Cowboys may need to add depth at the position to ensure that Gilbert isn’t the sole option to be the backup quarterback.

And a piece from 247Sports on July 5 mentioned that Gilbert is increasingly looking like the best option for the Cowboys’ backup job this year.

Since Gilbert didn’t do all that bad as the Cowboys’ backup quarterback last season, it might not be the worst option for that squad. A few other potential options for the Cowboys if they wanted to sign a backup quarterback at this point of the offseason could be the former Baltimore Raven and Baylor Bear Robert Griffin III, former Buffalo Bill and USC Trojan Matt Barkley, and/or former Minnesota Viking and Oregon State Beaver Sean Mannion.

Gilbert started out his college career with the Longhorns before eventually transferring to SMU. He finished up his three years playing for Texas with 3,301 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, and 23 interceptions. The two years for Gilbert at SMU rounded out with 6,460 passing yards, 36 passing touchdowns, and 22 interceptions.