Former quarterback Tony Romo will always be linked to this current iteration of the Dallas Cowboys and in his current role of top NFL analyst, his opinions on the state of the franchise hold more weight than most.

Recently, Romo had plenty to say about the state of the offense. In speaking with 105.3 The Fan, he was asked about his longtime safety blanket, tight end Jason Witten, returning to the field after a year in the broadcast booth. As he told the Ben & Skin Show, Romo believes the 11-time Pro Bowl tight end will show no signs of rust in his 16th season, even after a short-lived retirement.

“He’ll pick up right where he left off. I don’t think it’s a big challenge for Jason. The reality of it is… if you know the game the way he does, there are certain positions- he plays one of them at tight end- he’s always going to have the nuance to get open. Let’s say he runs the exact same he always did; to me, it’s just that at that position, your ability to use leverage against somebody, make you think this and then do that. It’s like the back pick in basketball: just all of a sudden, it gets you, and you didn’t even know it was coming, and that guy is wide open. He’s very intelligent with the game of football. I think he’s going to pick up right from when he retired. I think you’re going to see the same guy.”

The same guy as 2010, when he snagged close to 100 balls for over 1,000 yards and 9 touchdowns? Probably not. But that’s the point of this new Cowboys offense: mixing it up, spreading out the attack, using all the various weapons and having multiple threats for defenses to worry about. Witten could be a focus one week and step back to be a complementary piece the next. Same for every other playmaker on the team. Romo says that ebb and flow is to be expected.

“People are going to catch passes. One week, Witten will catch 10, the next week it’ll be less because of the scheme. It’s more scheme-related than it is individual. If you want to take away Amari Cooper- I mean, you could– you would just have to adjust your scheme in that week. And there’ll be a game or two where people will do that. And other teams will see that he’s not hurting them on tape, and then he’ll come back and hurt two more teams. Witten will do the same thing, and it’s just how the league works.”

Add to that expanded arsenal a new offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore, and the Cowboys may find themselves with an advantage, especially in the first half of the season as Moore’s playbook is cracked open for the first time. Romo says just the fact that there’s a new guy wearing the headset may be enough to give other teams pause.

“I’ve always felt like change was a good thing, even for change’s sake… Just to give your teams in your division– if they don’t have any data on how this guy calls a game, even if the system’s the exact same. Literally, if they didn’t change a play, it would still throw off teams in the division… they don’t know: under the gun, is he a guy who- for a defensive coordinator- this guy’s coming with an all-out blitz if the game is on the line. This other guy? He’s going to drop eight guys and try and throw your timing off. Well, certain people, that’s just who they are. That’s their mental makeup. So just having a change is going to benefit you early. Now, as the season progresses, now there’s tape, now there’s data, now there’s a system, you have everything as far as the numbers- on third down, red zone, key plays- then they’ll start to… That’s when you’ll find out really how good that actual playcaller is.”

The Cowboys’ franchise leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns was also asked about the quarterback who replaced him. Much has been made about the supposed improvements being made this offseason to Dak Prescott’s throwing mechanics, namely his footwork. It’s always been a point of emphasis with the team’s new quarterbacks coach Jon Kitna, using the feet to improve the arm. But Romo had an interesting take on that, hinting that it never really worked for him and his style of play.

“What I found over my career?” according to Romo, “The throwing motion actually produced the footwork. In other words, the way you throw a football, you almost change your footwork based on that- for power, for precision, to throw a spiral, when the wind is left to right or right to left. So for me, the more I worked on footwork in football, actually, I found that my throwing mechanics suffered sometimes because it was actually making it more difficult.”

But the undrafted gunslinger who improbably went on to four Pro Bowls knows better than most that nothing in the NFL is a one-size-fits-all proposition. And Kitna’s mentoring on footwork may indeed be the missing piece that allows Prescott to take the next step toward elite status in 2019.

“I’m not saying one way is right or wrong. I’ve always felt like I wanted to attack the arm angle and the way the ball was coming out first, and then I would eventually move down… As long as he is throwing the ball with velocity and spin, then I wouldn’t mess with it too much.”