Oh No, Romo

Tony Romo's broken clavicle could have dramatic effects for thousands of fantasy owners out there, including yours truly. He's going to be out at least 6 weeks, and quite possibly for the season. And the odds are that there really isn't a ton that you can do in order to remedy the situation. In one-QB leagues (which are the vast majority of leagues, of course), you probably have a much-less capable QB as your backup, and in two-QB leagues, the loss of Romo is even more devastating because the gap between Romo and the third QB you have is probably mountainous. Damn your frail body, Tony!

In all seriousness, all you can do is do the best you can to replace Romo's production, and it doesn't do you, the Romo fantasy owner, any good to complain. You just have to hunker down and manage your team in the best way possible. So with that in mind, let's look at how Romo owners can try to get by without him.

The first thought that comes to mind is about Jon Kitna, who now has the keys to the Dallas offense. Kitna picked up 2 TD's in garbage time tonight (although with an onside kick recovery at the end, Dallas would have actually had a chance to win), but looked skittish for much of his action. So how can we expect him to play moving forward? Obviously, Kitna isn't Romo, to put it mildly. He lacks Romo's accuracy and certainly lacks his penchant for making the big play downfield. And it stands to reason that the Cowboys may call more run plays now with Felix Jones. And he didn't look that good tonight. So it's bad news, right?

Well, not entirely. Most backup QB's that get pressed into service due to an injury to the starting QB struggle in the game that they have to unexpectedly enter. That's not rocket science. They generally take little-to-no practice reps during a typical week. But Kitna is definitely one of the best backups in the league. With a full week of all of the practice reps, it stands to reason that he would have more chemistry with the first string offense. You also have to look at the weaponry around him; Dallas' aerial weapons are second-to-none. It also helps that Dallas hosts Jacksonville next week, which is just about the easiest matchup possible for QB's. Finally, don't forget that Dallas playcaller Jason Garrett believes in passing; his numbers have always skewed heavily in favor of the pass, even with outstanding RB's in the past. While it's possible he could call more running plays going forward, he's still a guy that wants to move the ball through the air, and with Miles Austin, Jason Witten, Dez Bryant, and Roy Williams, it's tough to blame him.

So if you're a Romo owner, should you pick up Kitna? The odds are that the answer is yes. The matchup in Week 8 couldn't be better, and with a full week of getting all the practice reps, he should be a more-than-serviceable QB2 for fantasy owners most weeks, and he could even serve as a QB1 in great matchups (like Week 8, although since it's his first start that could be pushing it). If you're in a shallow league that only starts 1 QB, it's possible there could be better options out there, but in 10 and 12-team leagues it's likely that Kitna is the best possible option on the waiver wire. If your current backup is a solid option (a guy like McNabb, for example), you can roll with that guy and take a wait-and-see approach with Kitna. If you're in a two-QB league, it's almost certain that Kitna is the best possible waiver wire option, unless somebody foolishly put Michael Vick on the scrap heap, and it's likely that Kitna would be a top 20 option at his position every week unless he just completely bombs.

The downgrade from Romo to Kitna certainly projects to be at least a few points per game depending on your league's scoring system, but if you had a strong team around Romo, there's no reason your team still can't contend with Kitna as your starter. And if you didn't have a strong team around Romo, well...you probably weren't going to win your league anyway.