Brandon Weeden Making Strides In Offseason

Brandon Weeden has been a disappointment.

Everyone knows it, and rightfully so. After having an outstanding career at Oklahoma State, capping it off with a 2011 Big 12 Championship and a Fiesta Bowl win, the only downside people seemed to be able to bring up was that he was older than every other rookie. Obviously, there were other reasons, but the one that made teams hesitate was the age, and rightfully so as the quarterback is already 31 and is only in his third year.

However, the age isn't the only thing that held him back. For one thing, he was drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Browns, a team that has had a rough history with rookie, and all, quarterbacks. While in Cleveland, Weeden had went through two different offensive systems and was released after two years.

Then, to many OSU fans pleasure, the former Cowboy signed with the Dallas Cowboys, where he currently is the back up to Pro Bowler Tony Romo. Weeden did get some playing time last year, throwing for 303 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, not great numbers but enough to put his career numbers at 5,419 yards,  26 touchdowns and 28 interceptions.

Now, going into his second year with the Cowboys it will be the first time Weeden has played in the same offense in consecutive years. This has some of his teammates and his coach talking about the progression he has made during the offseason.

"Brandon knows the offense better this year," Romo said in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram."He's doing good things. His progressions are a little bit faster, and he's always throwing the ball really well. I'm really excited about his development."

Coach Jason Garrett acknowledged the quarterbacks progression, though he still has a while to go before being the guy we all thought he could be.

"I think he's a confident player," Garrett said in the interview. "He demonstrated that when he went into games last year and played well for us. But the more you're in a system, the more it becomes second nature — the calls, identifications, your reactions and reading the defense.

"He has a long way to go like everybody does, but he's certainly made strides."

For now, Cowboy fans can only take these words for what they are, but it seems as if the former Cowboy may finally be forming into something the Dallas squad can count on if Romo goes down again.

Read more quotes and the story from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram here.