Who are the Dallas Cowboys? Are they the 12-4 bunch that won a playoff game a little over a year ago? Or are they the disappointing 4-12 team of the previous season?

In Tony Romo's opinion, they're closer to the group that went 8-0 on the road and won the NFC East.

Romo was in San Francisco on Friday, participating in several radio and TV interviews. During one of those Q&A sessions, Romo provided a lengthy response for why Cowboys fans should be optimistic about the 2016 season.

At the top of his list: The return of a healthy franchise QB.

"Personally, I always like to think if I'm going to play, we're going to have a chance to succeed," Romo said on FOX's The Herd with Colin Cowherd. "I play an important position on our team. At the same time, I've played long enough to know that from year-to-year we're not losing these games 45-10. I'd like to think that in a lot of these close games I would have been able to probably help and close out some of those close games. So that's an easy one.

"No. 2, we're going to get some good players from the draft, we're going to get some people to come in. Our coaching staff is going to do a great job. Believe me, when you go through a 4-12 type season, everyone is going to look at themselves, as we all should, and they're going to reassess and they're going to go back and evaluate everything they do and they're going to tighten the screws, per say, as far as the things that may have not been up to standard.

"I think you'd be surprised by how small things can go a long way in the NFL."