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After Brandon Weeden’s performance in the first preseason game against the San Diego Chargers last year, Dallas Cowboys fans thought they had a solid backup and a pretty nice insurance policy in place just in case Tony Romo’s back decided to give out on him again. They had such high hopes because in that game he went 13-of-17 for 107 yards and also had a touchdown with no turnovers. Overall, that’s not a bad outing for a cast-off from the Cleveland Browns.
And after he came in for an injured Romo in the Monday night game against the Washington Redskins and immediately led the team down the field for a game-tying touchdown, many in Cowboys Nation were ready to hand him the keys to the kingdom. But after he laid an egg against the Arizona Cardinals, reality began to set in and many began to wonder if he even deserved to be in the league anymore.
Well, Weeden will be the first to point out that he was learning his third offense in three seasons last year and that his focus was primarily on learning the plays and the verbiage that goes along with it as opposed to actually reading the defense and using the play’s strength to attack their weaknesses. He will also point out that the Cardinals had the best defense he had ever faced in his career, so that would have been a tall order for any quarterback in the league.
But Weeden is now in his second season with the same offense, and he says that he is more comfortable with the playbook. He can now focus on everything that’s going on versus that of just getting the play call right, and his coaches are starting to take notice. His quarterback coach Wade Wilson believes that he is the team’s most improved player and that will certainly go a long way in helping him fend off the younger Dustin Vaughn who is also making strides.
Vaughn is a tough gunslinger out of West Texas A&M, a place where he put up eye-popping numbers in two-plus seasons as a starter. The Cowboys believe that he is a developmental project who could eventually be a solid backup in this league and could possibly come in to win a game or two if needed. So it is crucial for Weeden to start winning the coaches over now if he hopes to hold on to his job as Romo’s main backup this season.
Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.
