Welcome back, draft boards. Welcome back, smack talk. Welcome back, Monday morning walk of shame after starting Shonn Green over LaDanian Tomlinson.

And, of course, welcome back to lofty predictions.

Saddle up, gentlemen. 2011 will be the year of the Cowboy, and Tony Romo will be the mean old six-shooting cuss that will lead the charge.

Fantasy owners in Y! leagues are taking Romo at the 35th pick, while ESPN owners are snagging him at the 43rd pick. Based on his average draft position, fantasy owners essentially are saying that Romo is a second-tier QB — he falls 12 picks behind the QB in front of him, Philip Rivers, in Y! and 18 picks behind Rivers in ESPN.

The Network’s Chris Harris, the mad scientist who propagates the two-QB theory, doesn’t even mention Romo in a July 7 article about quarterback rankings.

What does this mean for you?

While other managers scramble in the first two rounds for the safety of sacred stand-by’s— here’s to you, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, and Peyton Manning— you can pick up an extra running back or receiver knowing there’s a good chance that Mr. Romo will be waiting around for you in the late third- or early fourth-round.

Number 9’s stats last season before the Giants buried his collarbone into the turf read like a love letter from Dallas — he averaged over 300 yards per game, more than 40 pass attempts, more than two touchdowns and just over one pick a game.

Those are huge numbers; love letter from Dallas, indeed.

The Lone Star State’s seductive ways don’t stop at Romo, either. In the first four games of the 2010 season, Miles Austin was capturing more astonished stares than Colin Farrell’s comb-over in ‘Horrible Bosses.’ His yardage totals over that span were 146,142, 20 and 166.

In 2009, Austin had five catches for 81 yards and one score in his first four games. Over the next twelve games, Austin amassed more than 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns. His totals in his last 16 games with Romo in the lineup are nothing short of a perpetual series of vinegar strokes for owners — 1,713 yards and 12 touchdowns.

These monstrous numbers, however, are lost on managers this year. Austin is going in the mid third-round in Y! leagues and only six picks ahead of Dez Bryant (32nd to 38th) in ESPN leagues. The good news here is that Austin probably will be around in the third round, and that there is plenty of confidence in Bryant’s playmaking ability, thus reinforcing Romo’s potential for a monster year.