2015 Fantasy Football: Rostering Romo is a No-No
The injuries keep piling up across the NFL, and in turn, your fantasy football teams are feeling that pain.
Quarterbacks Tony Romo, Jay Cutler, Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford all suffered injuries in Week 2, with Romo’s being the most significant. The Cowboys’ QB was put on IR/designated to return with a fractured collarbone, and won’t be permitted to return till Week 11. Unless you’re in a 2-QB league or the very deepest of re-drafts, none of these quarterbacks’ replacements are worth adding.
What should fantasy owners do with a player like Romo? If you have an open IR spot, stash him, but if your league doesn’t employ one or you’re currently using it for a player who is set to return much sooner (Arian Foster, Julius Thomas, etc.), you drop Romo and don’t look back.
The quarterback position is by far the easiest to replace. I’m not saying that starting Aaron Rodgers is the equivalent to starting Josh McCown, but among the top tier and middle tier QBs, there isn’t much of a discrepancy.
Last year, the QB5 (Ben Roethlisberger) and the QB18 (Nick Foles) were only separated by 2.3 points on a per week average, which is minuscule. And how ’bout Romo? The Cowboys’ signal caller averaged 21.8 fantasy points per game in 2014, which ranked 11th among QBs. To put that in perspective, Mark Sanchez and Kirk Cousins both averaged 21.3 — just 0.5 less per contest. Romo is by far the better QB of the three, but in fantasy terms, he’s not miles better over the course of a season.
There are plenty of decent options to take Romo’s place on your roster, and doing so will keep your bench plentiful, rather than becoming an albatross on your flexibility.
There are currently 13 starting quarterbacks under 50 percent owned in ESPN’s fantasy football leagues, most of whom I’d happily start. Among them: Teddy Bridgewater (47.1% owned), Joe Flacco (42.7%), Tyrod Taylor (31.6%), Andy Dalton (31.3%), Alex Smith (28.0%) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (9.0%).
Now, that we’ve got quarterbacks out of the way, let’s get into some more injuries that may affect your fantasy teams in Week 3…
DeMarco Murray, RB, Eagles
Murray popped up on the injury report after he tweaked his hamstring during Wednesday’s practice. Judging by how his first two weeks went, maybe he’s had this injury all along. (*rimshot*)
Despite Murray’s all-time ineffectiveness (11 yards on 21 carries…combined), he was last year’s rushing leader and will continue to be a big part of the Eagles’ high-powered offense. Though his possible absence or limitations will hurt his real life team, it actually makes things easier on fantasy owners.
Murray is clearly losing favor in Fantasy Land, and a very difficult matchup with the New York Jets looms, so this could be a blessing in disguise for his owners. If you own him, an answer to an already difficult decision may have just been gift-wrapped for you.
Jordan Cameron, TE, Dolphins
Another year, another injury for the oft-hobbled tight end. The talented, but injury-prone Cameron missed six games last year while dealing with a concussion, and this time a groin strain is the culprit.
After missing practice on Wednesday, Cameron looks iffy to play in Week 3, and just like Murray, it may actually be beneficial to owners.
The Bills have given up the fourth-most points to tight ends this season, but that’s mostly due to a monster game from Rob Gronkowski, who nobody shuts down. They did, however, handle the Colts’ group of tight ends pretty well in Week 1, holding them to just four catches for 22 yards. This early in the season, I still prefer to use last year’s stats as more of gauge when analyzing matchups, and the Bills were No. 1 against the position last year, limiting opposing tight ends to just 8.0 points per game in PPR leagues. In standard leagues the damage was even more microscopic, with just 4.2 points allowed per contest.
If you are a Cameron owner, it’s best to have a contingency plan. The Rams’ Jared Cook (12.6% owned) faces the Steelers, who are allowing the third-most points (29.9/game) to opposing tight ends, and the Ravens’ Crockett Gillmore (11.4%) is coming off a five-catch (six targets), 88-yard, two-TD performance, and seems to be building a solid rapport with QB Joe Flacco.