Cowboys fans and owners of their offensive skill players in fantasy football have enjoyed a charmed start to the season. The Cowboys began 6-1 as they shifted to a more run dominant offense, giving DeMarco Murray a massive workload. Thus far, he's been up to the task, totaling over 100 rushing yards per game until his streak was snapped in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Cowboys' passing offense has not lacked for fireworks, as Tony Romo has thrown for just shy of 2,000 yards and 15 TDs, despite missing last week's contest and a sizable portion of the Redskins tilt on Monday Night Football. It was during that game that the moment every Cowboys fan and fantasy owner dreaded took place: Tony Romo taking a hard shot to his surgically repaired back.
Since then, Romo has only taken a handful of snaps, looking completely ineffective in overtime against the Redskins and sitting out the Cardinals game. In his stead, Brandon Weeden has been as awful as we all remembered. His statistics are down from Romo's across the board, as Romo's 8.3 yards per attempt has been replaced by Weeden's 6.5.
Other than a garbage time touchdown toss to Dez Bryant against Arizona and another TD strike to Jason Witten in the Washington game against coverage that had been completely blown, Weeden has shown little ability to move the ball and a result, Dallas' offensive skill players are going to suffer.
Romo is a game time decision for the Jacksonville Jaguars game this week and depending on the trade deadline in your fantasy league, you may want to hold onto Romo, Murray, Bryant, Terrance Williams, etc. However, Romo's injury is considered to have a 1-4 week healing process, so this may be a case of him being rushed back too soon.
The Jaguars may seem like a walkover game, but they've been friskier in recent weeks. They've sacked opposing quarterbacks 27 times in the season's first 9 games and will clearly try to get after Romo and test that sore back. There is no guarantee that Romo will be able to hold up for these next 7 games and Weeden has not shown that he is up to the task if Romo goes down.
Trade deadlines in most fantasy league are either set for this week or the next. While no one would suggest that you dump Murray or Bryant for peanuts, it behooves owners to test the waters and see what they can get. If a gimpy Romo fails to move the offense consistently (or is injured again), Bryant/Murray owners could be left with starry names that no longer produce. If you can get a comparable talent in return for either of them, it may be time to pull the trigger.
