{"id":1552581,"date":"2023-03-04T14:04:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T19:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1552581"},"modified":"2023-03-04T14:04:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T19:04:09","slug":"who-is-ben-dinucci-seattle-sea-dragons-qb-xfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/who-is-ben-dinucci-seattle-sea-dragons-qb-xfl\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Ben DiNucci, the Seattle Sea Dragons QB in the XFL?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There are a lot of <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/xfl\/\">familiar names<\/a> and faces in the new <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/xfl\/\">XFL<\/a>. Most of the well-known players come from some level of NFL career. One player you may be familiar with is Seattle Sea Dragons quarterback Ben DiNucci. The <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/xfl-teams-need-know-about-8-squads-kicking-off-2023\/\">XFL franchise<\/a>\u2019s QB started a game in 2020 for the Dallas Cowboys, which makes him one of the small handful of XFL signal-callers with regular-season NFL experience. Here is what you need to know about the question, who is Ben DiNucci?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-who-is-ben-dinucci\"><strong>Who is Ben DiNucci?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ben DiNucci escapes and flips it to Josh Gordon for the TD \ud83d\ude31<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/XFLSeaDragons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@XFLSeaDragons<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/XFL2023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@XFL2023<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TfPIPOIuP3\">pic.twitter.com\/TfPIPOIuP3<\/a><\/p>&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SportsCenter\/status\/1627478906168127489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 20, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Seattle Sea Dragons quarterback Ben DiNucci is a name you should get familiar with as the 2023 XFL season goes on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DiNucci went to Pine-Richland High School in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, where he became the first prep player in the QB-rich state to throw for over 4,000 yards in a single season. He was a three-star recruit, per <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-sports\/football\/recruiting\/playerrankings\/_\/position\/quarterback-pocket-passer\/class\/2015\/view\/position\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ESPN<\/a>, in a class that included Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His incredible senior season, which included 46 touchdowns and nine interceptions, led to DiNucci switching from Ivy League Penn to Pitt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Pitt, he backed up Nathan Peterman as a redshirt freshman and got the starting job midway through his second season after an injury to starter Max Browne. However, he split time and eventually lost the job to Kenny Pickett. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After Pickett took the starting spot, DiNucci transferred to FCS school James Madison, where he started and led the team to the FCS National Championship Game, where the Dukes ultimately lost to Trey Lance and North Dakota State. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Dallas Cowboys picked DiNucci in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and in his rookie season, he played in three games and started one after injuries to Dak Prescott and Andy Dalton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, DiNucci is 23-of-43 in the NFL for 219 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and four fumbles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Can Ben DiNucci be an NFL QB?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1250\" height=\"703\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Ben-DiNucci-XFL-1.jpg?w=925&#038;strip=all&#038;quality=89\" alt=\"Who is Ben DiNucci, Ben DiNucci, XFL, Seattle Sea Dragons\" class=\"wp-image-1552584\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ben DiNucci | Scott Taetsch\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ben DiNucci can play in the NFL, as he demonstrated in 2020. However, after not impressing in his one start, the Cowboys buried DiNucci on the practice squad in 2021 and cut him before the 2022 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 6-foot-3, 210-pound signal-caller is making a case to get back to the NFL, though, in his first two games of the XFL season with the Seattle Sea Dragons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the first two weeks under <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/xfl-coaches-familiar-names-lead-teams-new-xfl\/\">former NFL head coach Jim Haslett<\/a>, he leads the league in passing with 478 yards, a 65.1% completion rate (54-of-83), three touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also has 44 rushing yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DiNucci almost led the Sea Dragons to a Week 1 win over the DC Defenders, but he fumbled late in the game on the goal line to give the Defenders a 22-18 victory. In Week 2, St. Louis Battlehawks (and former NFL) QB A.J. McCarron out-dueled Ben DiNucci to get a 20-18 win, with the Sea Dragons QB coughing up another costly fumble in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, DiNucci is a good quarterback all around, but the arm strength just isn\u2019t great. Plus, he did (and still does) have a problem holding onto the football when hit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, DiNucci is just 26 years old, so if he can show some improvement in those two categories this XFL season, he may get another chance in the NFL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who is Ben DiNucci? He is a QB for the Seattle Sea Dragons in the new XFL and a player who Cowboys fans will remember well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":1552584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16006],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Who is Ben DiNucci, the Seattle Sea Dragons QB in the XFL? - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Who is Ben DiNucci? He is a QB for the Seattle Sea Dragons in the new XFL and a player who Cowboys fans will remember well.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/who-is-ben-dinucci-seattle-sea-dragons-qb-xfl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who is Ben DiNucci, the Seattle Sea Dragons QB in the XFL?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Who is Ben DiNucci? He is a QB for the Seattle Sea Dragons in the new XFL and a player who Cowboys fans will remember well.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/who-is-ben-dinucci-seattle-sea-dragons-qb-xfl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-04T19:04:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-04T19:04:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Ben-DiNucci-XFL-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"703\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Crean\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@twcrean\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Crean\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/who-is-ben-dinucci-seattle-sea-dragons-qb-xfl\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/who-is-ben-dinucci-seattle-sea-dragons-qb-xfl\/\",\"name\":\"Who is Ben DiNucci, the Seattle Sea Dragons QB in the XFL? - Sports7\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/who-is-ben-dinucci-seattle-sea-dragons-qb-xfl\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/who-is-ben-dinucci-seattle-sea-dragons-qb-xfl\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Ben-DiNucci-XFL-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-04T19:04:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-04T19:04:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/3c64130dc33c55e64c149d1269d9c32e\"},\"description\":\"Who is Ben DiNucci? 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He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike &amp; The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer \u2014 with a Manchester City focus \u2014 in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.\",\"sameAs\":[\"\",\"twcrean\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tim-crean-78785622\/\",\"\",\"\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Tim Crean | Sports7 Staff Writer, Producer\",\"email\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Who is Ben DiNucci, the Seattle Sea Dragons QB in the XFL? - Sports7","description":"Who is Ben DiNucci? 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He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike &amp; The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer \u2014 with a Manchester City focus \u2014 in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. 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