About three or so years ago, a young and ambitious college student decided to pursue his education at Mississippi State University after spending two years at the University of Southern Mississippi.

With dreams of becoming a top-notch sports journalist, he started to write for The Reflector, MSU’s student newspaper. Around that same time, a quarterback from Louisiana by the name of Dak Prescott began his ascent into the public eye and Bulldog football record books.

He took MSU from unranked to a No. 1 ranking faster than had ever been done in college football history. He put forth an effort in that same year that many would deem Heisman worthy. Not bad at all for a three-star quarterback many overlooked.

Now, slated to be the starting quarterback for his favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys, it seems he is again in a position to achieve what many did not see the rookie doing this soon.

It started back in June, when the fourth-round pick moved up on the depth chart after Kellen Moore broke his ankle. But, an injury would not be enough to convince Cowboys’ fans and sports pundits that he could someday take the reins of the storied franchise.

The rookie went out almost as if he had the same thought in mind, and put forth a dazzling pre-season effort. He  passed for five touchdowns, 454 yards and completed 78 percent of his passes through three games of play. He also rushed for two touchdowns according to cbssports.com. The performance has garnered much talk in NFL circles and during typical “barbershop talk,” but the reality remained. Tony Romo was, for better or worse, the Cowboys’ starting quarterback.

However, in an unfortunate turn of events, the four-time pro-bowler would suffer a broken bone in his back after being tackled attempting to slide in a preseason game Thursday against the Seattle Seahawks. With that, Prescott was thrust into the starting lineup.

It may not have been the way most would have wanted to see Prescott begin his career, but despite the process being expedited due to huge injuries, the rookie quarterback is in a good position.

First, consider that whereas most rookies may not have familiarized or been exposed to a pro-style offense, that is not the case for Prescott. In his tenure at MSU, Prescott spent a lot of time in the shotgun formation. In fact, the rookie told USA Today Sports the offense he ran at State bore many similarities to those in the NFL.

“The only thing that was different is that we didn’t go under center,” he said. “In pre-draft visits every play they showed me, I could name it. We just called it something different.”

Second, consider the steady rate of improvement Prescott has exhibited from his time at MSU until now.

Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden of “Gruden’s QB Camp” raved about this aspect of Prescott’s game before the NFL Draft.

“What I loved about Prescott is he got progressively better throughout his career at Mississippi State. He improved as a passer dramatically from year to year.” Gruden said.

Throw in the fact that he has one of the best offensive lines in the entire league protecting him, a big target like Dez Bryant and what several are hoping will be a steady running back in rookie Ezekiel Elliot and Prescott is pretty well-equipped.

Now, let’s be clear. I am not about to say he will be Rookie of the Year, or usurp Romo for good as the starting quarterback or even manage to get the Cowboys into the playoffs. After all, the Cowboys have been notoriously bad without Romo (1-13 in three seasons, according to the Dallas Morning News).

But, the beauty of it is that he is not expected to be Tom Brady come to Dallas. All he has to do is what is expected. All he has to do is be average. However, as history has often shown us when it comes to Prescott, it is in moments when little is expected of him that he has an affinity to exceed expectations.

Anthony McDougle is the sports editor for the Daily Leader. He can be contacted anthony.mcdougle@dailyleader.com