The players who were ahead of former Eastern quarterback Tony Romo when the initial Dallas Cowboy training camp depth charts were discussed all seemed pretty impressive, although flawed.

The Cowboys now, after their final preseason game, have officially announced that the former Panther golden boy is the number two quarterback going into their season opening game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Romo went into the preseason listed as the team’s number three quarterback behind the ancient Vinny Testaverde and the rusty Drew Henson.

A lot of hype surrounded Henson’s return to football after he took a hiatus to play third base for a New York Yankee minor league team.

He played baseball after leaving the University of Michigan early, even though he was one of the school’s most talked-about quarterbacks in recent memory. He raised his draft status while staying at the school, and experts predicted he could have been the number one draft pick had he stayed in college football one more year and entered the NFL draft.

However, after trying to knock off the rust this preseason, Romo came out and put together a masterful last game to put himself ahead of the heralded former Wolverine entering the season.

Romo went 12-14 for 141 yards and one touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth and final game of the preseason.

In the same game, Henson didn’t complete a pass in the process of going 0-4 with one interception, and Testaverde only went 4-10 for 40 yards and an interception.

Now entering the season it will be interesting to see if Romo actually receives any playing time considering the veteran starter, Testaverde, is about as injury prone as Chicago Bears fans remember Chris Chandler to be.

So if Testaverde goes down to injury early on in the season, especially if head coach Bill Parcells doesn’t have time to gain confidence in Henson, Romo logically is the next one in line to get the start or at least some playing time.

Besides the great game that Romo used as a finale to the preseason, it had been an up and down four games for the young quarterback.

Another highlight of his lost some validity after Parcells relayed to the media that Romo’s game-winning quarterback sneak against the Oakland Raiders was not actually the play the head coach had called for.

As the seconds ticked off the clock, Parcells had called for Romo to spike the ball, but instead Romo took the snap and lunged forward for the game-tying touchdown, the extra point won the game for the Cowboys.

But, at least after the game versus the Chiefs, Romo has put himself into the position of back up quarterback for one of the most storied franchises in NFL history.

The sight of Romo in the Dallas home whites could become a reality if things go his way early on in the season.

At that point Romo would have to prove himself on one more level, something he seems to be getting used to doing.