After an offseason that has seen mostly good news, the Dallas Cowboys had a shadow of gloom cross the sun. It has been announced that free agent guard Mackenzy Bernadeau will be out two to three months with hip surgery.

Bernadeau was signed to provide some experience and hopefully an upgrade in performance for the interior of the Dallas offensive line. His acquisition was met with some controversy, mainly over whether he was really an adequate player to bring in. Despite those kinds of misgivings among the fan base, he and fellow guard signee Nate Livings must have been seen as providing enough improvement in the interior of the offensive line that the Cowboys did not use one of their draft choices to acquire an O lineman. With this development, that whole strategy is suddenly called into question.

There are actually several questions, most deriving from the bigger one of "What now?" Since I am not fond of the alternative of running around in panic, rending my clothes, and throwing ashes on my head, I thought it would be a good time to try and get all the various things that the team must look at on the table.

Follow me through the jump to go over the issues - if you can do that without hurting something.

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Another great piece from Keg promoted from the FanPosts. -- Dave

There is no position as unassumingly demanding and oft forgotten as the NFL fullback. In a league ruled and marketed towards the growth of passing focused offenses, this blue-collar position is disappearing as quickly as the middle class (sorry, couldn't resist). But these broken-nosed, jack-of-all-trades ironmen are still in the NFL, colliding and crashing into the opposition, martyrs to the trenches rarely receiving the glory of their deeds.

One of the best fullbacks in the history of the NFL, and to many a personal Cowboys favorite, Daryl "Moose" Johnston was the perfect, all-purpose fullback, the only kind that may survive in the future NFL. In a way, Moose was the reflection of the great teammates around him, a nexus of all their best qualities. He had the competitive spirit of Michael Irvin, like Jay Novacek had soft hands and could find soft spots in defenses, he could pick-up blitzes and seal running lanes as well as Mark Stepnoski, and he had the heart and work ethic of Emmitt Smith. Now, besides the fact this man deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, or at the very least the Ring of Honor...

The Dallas Cowboys recently picked up an accomplished all-purpose fullback. Cowboys fans continue to discuss the injuries at fullback and the interior o-line that led to inconsistent performances by Dallas' rushing attack. Pretty soon, I expect we'll be discussing how much improved the Cowboys running game appears in 2012. DeMarco Murray will continue to be praised, building on his success in 2011. Felix Jones will appear rejuvenated, splitting carries and long touchdowns pretty evenly with DMM. The potential and growth of the Yuglies will be discussed with excitement. As fan awards shower down upon the team, I hope (my projections are true) we don't overlook Lawrence Vickers.

Let's take a look at what Lawrence Vickers has done during his career...

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Less than two weeks ago, the Cowboys O-line coach Bill Callahan talked about the tentative starting line-up for his O-line. At the time, that line-up included Mackenzy Bernadeau at right guard, who was rehabbing his injured hip during the team's offseason workouts under the supervision of Cowboys trainers.

Today, it looks like Callahan may have to rethink his options along the offensive line. Bernadeau underwent surgery over the weekend to repair the tear in his right hip, according to Todd Archer of ESPN Dallas.

Archer further writes that Bernadeau could be out of action for 10-to-12 weeks, a time frame which would make him miss all OTAs and the minicamp, and possibly part of training camp as well.

The 6-4, 325 pound former Panther could have provided some much needed muscle and beef for the interior O-line, but his spot will now likely be hotly contested between 2011 rookies David Arkin, Bill Nagy and Kevin Kowalski as well as 2012 college free agent Ronald Leary.

Bryan McIntyre, in his first week writing for NFL.com, reports that while Bernadeau is due a $1 million base salary in 2012, his contract contains a $250,000 de-escalator clause tied to his completion of the offseason workouts. If Bernadeau recovers, he could wind up playing for $750,000 this season. The downside obviously is that he may not play at all if he doesn't recover sufficiently.

Two weeks ago, rabblerouser looked at how the Cowboys have been retooling their roster this year, which holes are being filled by free agents, which holes are plugged with rookies and which holes could remain soft spots.

Inspired by his post , I wanted to understand just how much of a roster churn the Cowboys have undergone in the last two years. Remember, the last two seasons were the first consecutive non-winning seasons since the 5-11 years in 2001 and 2002, so a good degree of churn is to be expected.

To determine the level of churn over the last two years, I looked at the 53-man roster on opening day of the 2010 season, and compared it to the current roster. So make like House Of Pain and jump around the break to see what the churn looks like.

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On Saturday, Archie posted an article on Jerome Henderson, in which he outlined the various changes in attitude and coaching style the Cowboys' new defensive backs coach will bring to the position. Like Archie, I believe the Henderson hire is one of Dallas' key offseason moves - and not merely because the secondary has been pitiful for much of the last two seasons, and could therefore use a coaching upgrade, but because he specializes in a certain defensive style and philosophy.

As Chia noted in his post, Henderson's coaching stops include stints with the Jets and Browns, where he has tutored the likes of Darelle Revis, T.J. Ward and Joe Haden. What matters here is less the success of these players than the scheme in which Henderson tutored them. Unlike Dave Campo, who was not only uncomfortable coaching his charges in an in-your-face press-man coverage style but loathe to leave his men out on the proverbial island that the scheme demands, Henderson has a history of coaching in press-man schemes. And I believe that this will be the key to the Cowboys' 2012 season.

Allow me to explain: In Tim Layden’s book, Blood, Sweat and Chalk, a general history of football’s schematic innovations, there is a chapter dedicated to what Layden terms "The Ryan Family Defense." He examines several defenses that have been run by Buddy Ryan and his defensive-minded offspring, all of which are predicated on two central tenets: stop the run and put the quarterback on his backside. The latter is key: the Ryan boys have long been successful at devising ways for their defenders to get to opposing signal-callers.

How will Rob Ryan get to the quarterback in 2012? All will be revealed after the jump...

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Some of the more lively debates among Dallas Cowboys fans take place when the talk turns to the roles the offensive or defensive units play in winning or losing games.

The arguments exchanged in those debates typically sound something like this:

• In 2011, the offense scored less than 17 points in five games. The Cowboys lost all five games. Therefore the offense sucks.
• In 2011, the Cowboys were 6-1 in games in which the defense held opponents to less than 20 points. Had the defense held more opponents below 20 points, the Cowboys would have made the playoffs. Therefore the defense sucks.

If, like me, you're still living in a world where every offseason you think that the current year's team will be a reincarnation of the 13-3 2007 team, you may be surprised to find that over the last four seasons, the Cowboys have compiled a paltry 34-30 record. So who's at fault here?

One way to understand the contributions of each unit is to look at 'wins over average' for each unit, and that's what we'll do after we make like David Lee Roth and jump.

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It is the season of unbridled optimism. Well, it is for me. And I am always looking for things that will feed my growing hope for the Dallas Cowboys to have great success in 2012. I am, after all, the keeper of the Kool Aid around here.

The great thing is that it is not much of a stretch to find good signs for the team. The roster looks to be getting younger and more talented, there is a real sense that Jason Garrett's Cowboy Way is gaining traction, and even the most cynical of the beat writers that hang around Valley Ranch seem to be getting a positive vibe from the team.

This is the first week that the rookies will be working side by side with the veterans in strength and conditioning sessions and learning the playbook.

Rookies are back at Valley Ranch to take part in the offseason conditioning program with the veterans. On Tuesday and Thursday, the Cowboys will continue their on-field teaching sessions with the coaches. Safety Matt Johnson, a fourth-round pick, is not allowed to attend until Eastern Washington is out of school.

It's very exciting to see the new faces, both the rookies and the free agent signees, all working together. But it is also very good to see some old faces back and healthy after some problems last year.

OCC has already done his typically excellent job of looking at the numbers from last season, which you can link to in the Related article above. I happened to notice several articles today about players who are coming back from injury, and it was just one more thing to get me worked up about the coming season. So I thought it would be a good time to look at all the players coming back and what they may mean for the team.

Take the jump to read more - but don't hurt yourself.

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Entering the 2009 offseason, the Dallas Cowboys had just released the talented but troubled Terrell Owens. Many NFL analysts came out and said the Cowboys offense would suffer due to the loss of Owens. Those analysts were wrong due to the breakout of Miles Austin. Obviously Austin overshadows any other performances from the Cowboys offense that year, but there was another undrafted free agent wide receiver who made the team that year.

Kevin Ogletree joined the Cowboys with the hopes of making the 53-man roster. As a fellow New Yorker, I felt an instant connection to the Queens receiver.

Ogletree is entering his fourth NFL season. His career started off with so much promise, but it hasn't developed into what I had expected to see from Ogletree. After losing a productive wide receiver in Laurent Robinson who took his talents to Jacksonville for more money, the #3 wide receiver position has an opening waiting to be taken. Will it be Kevin Ogletree that seizes the reins?

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