Cowboys Round 7 (231) Selection - Ben DeNucci, QB, James Madison

[boozeman]

Brugler's analysis...

25 Ben DiNucci James Madison 6-2 211 4.84

Welp.

All kidding aside, he was gaining steam late in the process with Carolina, New England and Chicago getting interested.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Brugler's analysis...

25 Ben DiNucci James Madison 6-2 211 4.84

Welp.

All kidding aside, he was gaining steam late in the process with Carolina, New England and Chicago getting interested.

Yep no idea what to expect but he had a really good final season and has tools. If nothing else he has a shot at a roster spot.

 

[boozeman]

Yep no idea what to expect but he had a really good final season and has tools. If nothing else he has a shot at a roster spot.

If he pushes Rush, I am fine with it.

 

[Shiningstar]

im not going to get to excited over him yet. if he pushes or replaces Rush, thats great, im hoping the new staff takes the back up QB serious.

 

[boozeman]

 

[NoDak]

• YEAR Redshirt Senior
• POSITION Quarterback
• HT./WT. 6-3 / 210
• HOMETOWN Wexford, Pa.
• HIGH SCHOOL Pine-Richland
• PREVIOUS Pitt
• MAJOR Communication Studies

Biography
Finished career ranking top-10 all-time at JMU in five statistical categories:

• Tied 3rd – Completions (479)
• 4th – Passing Yards (5,716)
• 4th – Passing Touchdowns (45)
• 6th – Pass Attempts (687)
• 7th – Total Offense – 6,718

2019 as a Redshirt Senior: Started in all 16 games at quarterback… AFCA First Team All-American… HERO Sports Second Team All-American… CAA Offensive Player of the Year… First Team All-CAA quarterback… VaSID Second Team All-State... CFPA FCS National Performer of the Year Midseason Watch List... CAA Offensive Player of the Week (Nov. 11)… Completed 268-of-378 attempts for 3,441 yards and 29 touchdowns with six interceptions… Also rushed for 569 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 4.7 per carry… Led the nation with a 70.9% completion percentage… Also ranked second nationally in pass efficiency (169.5), sixth in yards per pass attempt (9.1) and 11th in the FCS and third in the CAA in passing touchdowns… Led the CAA in yards per play (8.0) and total offensive yards (4,010) while also ranking third in total offensive touchdowns (36) and seventh in rushing touchdowns… Ranked second in JMU single-season history in passing yards and total offense, tied for second in passing touchdowns and third in completions… Tied career high with four passing touchdowns against Morgan State (Sept. 14)… Threw for a season-high 293 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another score against New Hampshire (Nov. 9)… Completed 84% of passes, throwing for 273 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 66 and two scores in FCS Second Round versus Monmouth (Dec. 7)… Passed for three touchdowns and added a rushing score against Richmond (Nov. 16)… Passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns, adding 62 on the ground with a TD in FCS Semifinals against Weber State (Dec. 21)… Passed for three touchdowns in comeback win against Villanova (Oct. 12)… Threw for more than 200 yards in 11 games… Completed better than 75% of passes in eight outings, including career-high 88.9% at Rhode Island (Nov. 23)… Had at least three total touchdowns in six games… Rushed for at least 80 yards twice, including season-high 82 at Rhode Island... One of three Gary Clark Offensive MVP Award recipients... CAA Football Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll (Fall 2019).

2018 as a Redshirt Junior: Started all 13 games... Third Team All-CAA quarterback... CAA Offensive Player of the Week (Nov. 12)... Completed 211-of-309 pass attempts for 2,275 yards and 16 touchdowns, with 12 interceptions... Also rushed for 433 yards and a team-best 9 touchdowns, averaging 4.0 yards per carry... Ranked third nationally with a 68.3% completion percentage... Also ranked tied for second in the CAA in rushing touchdowns... Threw for a career-high 316 yards against Elon (Oct. 6)... Tossed a career-best four touchdowns against Rhode Island (Nov. 10)... Threw three touchdown passes against Robert Morris (Sept. 13) and at Richmond (Sept. 29)... Career-high five total touchdowns twice, adding two rushing scores in RMU win and one rushing TD vs. URI... Ran for career highs of 104 rushing yards and three rushing scores at Towson (Nov. 17)... Threw for over 200 yards in four games and rushed for over 60 yards in four outings... Completed more than 70 percent of his passes in six games, including a season-high 85.2% rate in season opener at NC State on 23-of-27 passing... CAA Football Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll... CFPA FCS National Performer of the Year Midseason Watch List.

Prior to JMU: Transferred to JMU after spending three seasons at Pitt… Redshirted true freshman season before playing in 12 games over the next two… Made six starts at quarterback as a redshirt sophomore... Was 88-of-158 for 1,091 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions as a sophomore... Also rushed for a touchdown and two-point conversion – both against Penn State… Came off bench to throw for a season-high 228 yards (13-of-25) and a touchdown against Oklahoma State… Made first career start the next week, going for 110 yards and a TD at Georgia Tech… Had season highs for both completions and attempts versus NC State, throwing 19-of-32 for 170 yards and score... Appeared in two games as a redshirt freshman, including throwing a touchdown in the Pinstripe Bowl against Northwestern.

High School: USA Today Second Team All-American… Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year… Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class AAAA Player of the Year… Pennsylvania Football News Class AAAA Offensive Player of the Year… Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Fabulous 22”… Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “Terrific 25”… Threw for 7,619 yards and 72 touchdowns during career at Pine-Richland… Became first player in PA history to throw for 4,000 yards in a season, passing for 4,269 yards and 46 touchdowns as a senior… Led Pine-Richland to 15-1 record and WPIAL Class AAAA championship and PIAA title game as a senior… Three-year starter at quarterback… ESPN rated him No. 10 overall prospect in the state and nation’s No. 27 pocket-passing QB… Dual-sport athlete who also played basketball… Honor roll student.

Personal: Full name is Benjamin Anthony DiNucci… Son of Jay and Heidi DiNucci… Has one brother and one sister... Majoring in communications.

 

[boozeman]

 

[Simpleton]

Just let McCarthy pick whatever developmental QB's he wants and see what happens, hopefully either this guy or someone else can push Cooper "worst backup in the league" Rush off the roster.

 

[boozeman]

.

 

[data]

Slings the ball effortlessly. In some of those highlights, looks like he throws it 40 yards flat-footed. Coaches will likely train him proper footwork and hip thrust, but he’s got an arm.

 

[Cotton]

In the 7th round, it's worth the reward of potentially getting a solid backup QB.

 

[NoDak]

In the 7th round, it's worth the reward of potentially getting a solid backup QB.

We're gonna trade him in two years for a 2nd and 4th round pick.





Sorry. I'm still homering out over this draft.

 

[Simpleton]

I watched this guy against WVU, Weber St. in the FCS semi and NDSU in the championship and if you squint real hard he kind of plays like Romo, for better and for worse.

Very accurate, good pocket presence, athletic and able to make accurate throws on the run, quick release, dangerous as a scrambler, but he also lacks in arm strength, seems to lock in on targets and loses track of defenders at times leading to poor decisions and can get frenetic in the pocket.

Probably doesn't mean much aside from making him a decent developmental guy so we'll see what McCarthy can do with him. There are probably 10 guys each year who conceptually are similar to Romo but 95% of them never amount to anything.

 

[NoDak]

I watched this guy against WVU, Weber St. in the FCS semi and NDSU in the championship and if you squint real hard he kind of plays like Romo, for better and for worse.

Very accurate, good pocket presence, athletic and able to make accurate throws on the run, quick release, dangerous as a scrambler, but he also lacks in arm strength, seems to lock in on targets and loses track of defenders at times leading to poor decisions and can get frenetic in the pocket.

Probably doesn't mean much aside from making him a decent developmental guy so we'll see what McCarthy can do with him. There are probably 10 guys each year who conceptually are similar to Romo but 95% of them never amount to anything.

Agree with everything except arm strength. Sure, he doesn't have the Elway cannon, but he has a pretty live arm. He has nice touch on his deep ball, and can gun it in there if need be.

I think his biggest hurdle is just going to be the adjustment to the speed of the NFL game. His other warts are can be corrected with coaching, imo.

 

[boozeman]

Agree with everything except arm strength. Sure, he doesn't have the Elway cannon, but he has a pretty live arm. He has nice touch on his deep ball, and can gun it in there if need be.

I think his biggest hurdle is just going to be the adjustment to the speed of the NFL game. His other warts are can be corrected with coaching, imo.

Yeah, good luck with that that with Garrett.

Wait. He is gone! Yyyahhhhsss.

 

[Simpleton]

Agree with everything except arm strength. Sure, he doesn't have the Elway cannon, but he has a pretty live arm. He has nice touch on his deep ball, and can gun it in there if need be.

I think his biggest hurdle is just going to be the adjustment to the speed of the NFL game. His other warts are can be corrected with coaching, imo.

Perhaps, the ball doesn't pop out of his hand and he doesn't seem to be able to throw frozen ropes downfield but those are minor issues. Romo didn't have the strongest arm and he was able to improve that over time with footwork and his pocket mechanics, and for me arm strength isn't even a top 2-3 attribute I look at for QB's as long as they have at least average to above average arm strength which he seemingly does.

 

[boozeman]

Perhaps, the ball doesn't pop out of his hand and he doesn't seem to be able to throw frozen ropes downfield but those are minor issues. Romo didn't have the strongest arm and he was able to improve that over time with footwork and his pocket mechanics, and for me arm strength isn't even a top 2-3 attribute I look at for QB's as long as they have at least average to above average arm strength which he seemingly does.

Feh. Everyone knew Romo lollipopped his throws.

 

[Simpleton]

Feh. Everyone knew Romo lollipopped his throws.

I was thinking of that infamous assessment as I watched this guy. Arm strength is by far the most overrated QB trait as long as they aren't completely incapable like late-career Pennington.

 

[NoDak]

Feh. Everyone knew Romo lollipopped his throws.

Well, he was no Drew Henson. That's for damned sure.

 

[boozeman]

I was thinking of that infamous assessment as I watched this guy. Arm strength is by far the most overrated QB trait as long as they aren't completely incapable like late-career Pennington.

Having a Howitzer arm is useless with a .10 cent brain and no football IQ. The looks of this guy appears to be better than the likes of Stephen McGee, Rush etc.