Last year I did an end of season post on what we learned, in part, over the course of the season ( http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2010/1/3/1232402/things-learned-over-the-course-of ) .  Since we are near dead after 8 weeks, I thought I would outline things that we have learned so far, for better or for worse.

1.  Alan Ball shows no signs of being a competent starter.  This is disappointing, but reasonable fans can't really call it shocking.  The shocking part is that we went into the season with our plan for FS being Ball, and if he fails, still Ball.  Terrible roster management and contingency planning.

2.  Dez is a gamechanger.  He needs the ball and there is little not to like.  The only problem is that he was very much a luxury pick after the 2009 Draft and the 2006 Draft.  Even Jones and Bennett in 2008 have produced very little so far.  These missed draft picks have caught up to us, in my opinion.  There is little talent pushing the established starters.

3.  Our O line and Keith Brooking are not fine wine.  They have aged terribly.  Last year, after the playoff loss, the o-line was exposed.  This year we came back with a slight upgrade at LT (maybe), reduced depth (Free was our 6th man last year), and another year past the prime for most of the starters.  Bigg seemed off last year, and is gone this year.  It is telling that twice today at the end of the first half Garrett tried to run Barber behind Costa, a 2010 OFA.  Garrett isn't stupid - he knows Bigg can't do it.  Again, the roster planning here has been terrible.  As for Brooking, he can do all his macho rants about punching teams in the nose, but he is done.  Is there anymore annoying guy on a team than the "vocal leader" who sucks? 

4.  Buehler has been okay, but his misses have been critical and costly.  Not bringing a vet into camp cannot be rationally explained.  If the team was actually decent, Buehler would be an issue.

5.  We still don't know what we have with Bennett, even though Witten is slipping.  We have to learn what we have with him in the next 9 games.  Is he a maker of mismatches, or just a guy? 

6.  Too much of our pass rush is Ware and hoping.  Spencer seems to have struggled, Rat isn't getting there as much, and our ILBs can't find holes.  Should Butler be seeing the field more.

7.  On the Spencer issue, we seem to have the market cornered on young enigmatic talent.  I know Felix is generally well regarded, but I think he has lost a touch of explosion and a touch of wiggle in the open field (not that he is seeing enough of it).  Jenkins has backslid, Ogletree is wearing track pants during games.  Talent development may be as much of an issue as drafting is for this squad.

8.  Again on roster management, does anyone really expect much from AOA on returns?  A good team doesn't pay so little attention to the KR position.

9.  Why did Jerry try to save $400 K or so by hardlining Sam Hurd, and was it embarassing for him to have Hurd call his bluff?  I don't know what the lesson is here, except that there have been curious decisions.
10.  We have learned that Miami is playing good football with Berger and McQuistan on the line, starting. 

That is all I can think of right now.  Not much good in this education, imo.

While we all tend to overreact to specific games and plays, I think things are revealed over the course of a season.  I think these are some things Cowboy fans learned this year:

The Good:

1.  Doug Free can start in this league.  He should only get better and more confident.  Are there any other Doug Frees on the roster waiting for their big break?

2.  Jenkins and Spencer are young and talented, and their talent is producing.  Jenkins reminds me of Pup Smith pre-achilles.  Spencer is putting it all together - little things like swiping the ball today.  It is hard to recall someone's second season being such an improvement on their rookie season as has been the case for Jenkins.

3.  A ST coach makes a world of difference.  A KO specialist is a nice luxury if you can afford it.

4.  Some of the younger bit players are handling everything thrown at them - Phillips, Ogletree, Bowen. 

5.  Romo has improved in the areas where he needed to.  He also looks more like the man out there - more business like.  

6.  Austin is legit.  He catches the ball with his hands in full stride, which is rarer than it sounds.  He doesn't fight it whatsoever.  Like Free, we should only see improvement from him.

7.  The dropoff from Canty to Igor was nil.  Canty was huge, with a frightful wingspan, but it looks like he will ultimately be a tease.  He will never produce as well as one would expect.  With Igor and Spears, we have decent DEs. 

The Bad

1.  The O line is not weak, but oddly inconsistent.  Different guys make different mistakes each week that keep them from being reliable.

2.  We know no more about Martellus Bennett than we did a year ago.  If we do know more, it likely isn't good.

3.  We lost a guy we thought was our kicker until 2020, and we likely held on to him too late.  Imagine if we had signed Longwell instead of Vanderjagt?

The Ugly

1.  #11.  He has been here 1.5 years and is a scrub.  He is somehow hard to root for.  He was outproduced today by Crayton, Ogletree and Phillips.  There is nothing in his game or demeanour which makes me think anything will change.  There is no football reason for him to be in Dallas next year.  Garrett has been outfoxing DCs the last three weeks with a starting receiver who is a dud.

Note - list is not comprehensive.  I'm sure others have other observations