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QB Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys

HT: 6-2, WT: 219, Born: 4-21-1980, College: Eastern Illinois, Drafted: ---

2009 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of June 29th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: B Edwards (45), R Williams (46), Tony Romo (47), K Moreno (48), C Ochocinco (49)
Position: P Rivers (37-QB5), K Warner (41-QB6), Tony Romo (47 - QB7), D McNabb (57-QB8), M Ryan (64-QB9)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

Best Case

To hear some people tell it, Tony Romo flopped in 2008. Yet, in 13 games he threw for 3,448 yards and 26 touchdowns. He was a Top 10 fantasy passer in spite of miss ing almost a month with a finger injury. The best case for Romo is a return to the Top 5, where he finished in 2007. But that will only happen if the Cowboys receiving corps takes shape quickly, which means Roy Williams must approximate the 1,000-yard receiver he was in Detroit and not the marginal contributor he was as a Cowboy last year. Romo is an accurate passer (63.6 percent career completion rate) who loves to throw downfield (8.1 career yards per attempt), and it's entirely possible that he'll benefit from addition by subtraction (i.e., Terrell Owens).

Worst Case

The worst case would be if fantasy owners had to count on Romo in the NFL playoffs, but lucky for us our fantasy playoffs take place during the NFL's regular season. In all seriousness, the questions for Romo are more about his supporting cast than his own ability. Williams has enormous shoes to fill and the rest of the WR corps is far from a sure bet. If they all struggle in their roles, even someone as talented as Romo could struggle to be a consistent fantasy star.

Outlook

Last year Romo missed three games and still finished as the 10th-best fantasy QB. With Owens gone, it's reasonable to expect the team's passing numbers to take a hit, but Romo is far too talented to completely fall off the map. Over a full 16-game season, as long as TE Jason Witten and the talented trio of RBs are healthy, Romo is still a solid bet for Top 10 production. Don't pay Top 5 prices for Romo, but if he falls into the QB10-12 range, he's not only worth rostering, he offers tremendous upside.

Relevant Articles

Why he is undervalued

Mark Wimer - Tony Romo hasn't had much luck in the post-season (or in getting to the post-season), but we only care about what happens in the first 16 weeks of the NFL season here in fantasy circles. He missed three games last season and still finished in the Top 10 at his position - assuming he's healthy for 16 games this year, Romo should be back among the Top 5 fantasy QBs in the land, despite the departure of the aging Terrell Owens to Buffalo. Romo has a lot of upside this late off the board - he's undervalued right now.

Why he is overvalued

Mike Brown - Romo already had a couple of strikes against him going into this season, and that was before the release of Terrell Owens and his subsequent signing in Buffalo. Romo, for all of his stardom, hasn't played terribly well in some of the more crucial moments of his career to this point. The Cowboys have gone from Super Bowl favorites to also-rans in their own division under his watch, and he has presided over one of the biggest turnarounds in recent memory as America weeps that Jessica Simpson fills out her Daisy Dukes a bit too well these days.

Jeff Pasquino - Terrell Owens is gone, and that will dramatically affect Romo's numbers. Jason Witten is one of the best tight ends in the NFL and Roy Williams can be an effective primary receiver, but the Cowboys are severely lacking in receivers. Contrary to that deficiency is the depth of Dallas' running backs. Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice all are capable runners (and to an extent, receivers), so Dallas may be much more of a run first, pass second type of offense. That is far from good news for anyone counting on a big year from Romo.

Aaron Rudnicki - Tony Romo finished just ahead of players like Chad Pennington and David Garrard in total fantasy points last season but he's being drafted much higher. It appears that people are discounting the loss of Terrell Owens, who helped Romo with 25 receiving TDs over the past two years. While Romo still has Jason Witten and Roy Williams, neither is anywhere close to the red zone weapon that Owens was. I expect the Cowboys to become more of a running team this year, which could make them a better team but will likely hurt Romo's fantasy numbers.

Jason Wood - Romo is an excellent quarterback who probably gets too much blame for the Cowboys' late season performances and too little credit for the overall productivity of the offense in the last three seasons. But this year, without Terrell Owens, it's hard to imagine Romo will match his fantasy production of the last few seasons. Remember that Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb never had better numbers than with Owens; Romo will be the same. He is still a quality option, but no way should he be drafted ahead of the likes of Donovan McNabb and Jay Cutler.

David Yudkin - With Terrell Owens in the fold last year, Romo ranked as the 9th best fantasy QB. Owens has been exiled to Buffalo, and Romo will do better without him? Granted, had he not missed a few games his ranking would have jumped up a couple of slots, but the point remains valid. The Cowboys added Roy Williams last year, and he never really clicked with Romo, averaging fewer than two receptions and fewer than 20 receiving yards a game. Dallas refrained from making any major moves at receiver, so ranking at #7 this year will be a real challenge for Romo.

Latest News

Cowboys | Owens says he was a scapegoat (Thu Jun 25, 07:19 PM) - Clarence E. Hill Jr., of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reports former Dallas Cowboys WR Terrell Owens, currently with the Buffalo Bills, said he became a scapegoat for Cowboys QB Tony Romo's lack of leadership. Owens said, "He was the quarterback of the team. I think everybody realized that. It was upon him to adopt that leadership role and carry that out. Obviously, they saw that didn't happen. So, for whatever reason, I'll be the scapegoat. I'm not here. Now, it's his team. I wish him well." Owens also said he has not talked to owner Jerry Jones since he was released from the Cowboys in March.

Our View: Owens has had a persecution complex for a long time now, so these comments should come as no surprise. Still, they fit in with incidents like Romo going to the beach with Jessica Simpson during the playoffs and his general "too laid back" personality for an NFL quarterback.
link to story   

Cowboys | Palmer believes Kitna can help Romo (Wed Jun 24, 04:56 PM) - Tim MacMahon, of The Dallas Morning News, reports Cincinnati Bengals QB Carson Palmer said during a radio interview that Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo would have a big year if he listens to QB Jon Kitna this season because he can help him in several areas.

Our View: Kitna will make a much better backup for Tony Romo than Brad Johnson did last year. Unlike Johnson, Kitna can still throw the football more than 10 yards and is looking forward to being a mentor for Romo. Last season Johnson made it clear that his job was to be the backup - not a teacher. Romo has his fair share of doubters, so we're fairly certain that he'll listen to the veteran Kitna and pick up some helpful pointers along the way.
link to story   

2009 Schedule

2008 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Romo was able to effectively move the Cowboys down the field primarily by passing. He started out by completing his first nine passes, and was rarely off target on his throws. Romo had plenty of time to throw in the first half and was able to pick apart the Cleveland secondary by going 13 of 16 for 175 and one TD. In the second half the Browns were able to get some pressure on him, but he was still able to move around in the pocket enough to find his receivers. On one play Romo was hit on the chin after he got the pass off and had to receive stitches on the sidelines after the drive was over. He did not miss any playing time and did not seem to be negatively affected by the stitches.

Week 2 - Romo wasted no time going to work by hitting WR Terrell Owens deep down the field on a 72 yard pass. The touchdown throw was a perfect strike over the defense as he hit Owens in full stride. It was longest pass touchdown in Romo's young career. Things went down hill briefly for Romo as he threw an interception on the next possession that set up an Eagles' touchdown. On very next possession, with the Cowboys backed up in their own end zone, he bobbled the ball while trying to hand it the running back and the Eagles eventually recovered the ball for a touchdown. Romo came back and led the team on 54 yard drive and capped it off with a four yard touchdown pass to Owens. He was nine for 13 for 177 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Romo's third touchdown of the game came on nice 17 yard pass to RB Marion Barber in the third quarter. The Philadelphia defense seemed to blitz a lot more in the second half as he seemed to have less time to pass in the second half. Despite the couple of miscues early in the game, Romo played very well, making several big plays in the second half.

Week 3 - QB Tony Romo continued to be mistake prone despite his gaudy stats. He fumbled for a 14 yard loss in the red zone, threw a red zone interception, and was flagged for two intentional grounding plays. Romo finished with nice stats overall and is still a huge part in the effective, high powered Cowboys offense.

Romo was under pressure on his 52 yard touchdown bomb to WR Miles Austin. He stepped up to avoid pressure and let the ball go before a pair of defenders closed in on him. He also had a couple of passes dropped by WR Terrell Owens.

Week 4 - Romo was not afforded the normal time that he has enjoyed in previous weeks. Both he and the entire Dallas offense got off to a slower start as they adjusted to what Washington was doing. It certainly appeared that Romo was forcing the ball to Terrell Owens during the first half. Romo started to show some life late in the second quarter when he kept a drive alive by scrambling for a first down on key third down. Romo certainly showed flashes of greatness with his excellent pocket presence and he often stepped up in the pocket to avoid sacks and make plays down the field. The line on Romo was three scores and 300 yards passing. He was able to split his receptions and TDs to his various weapons. However, Romo will have nightmares about his terrible interception to Horton, as it was a real game changer.

Week 5 - Romo had a decent start and completed his first TD pass to Witten early in the second quarter. The Cowboys went up 17-0 on that play, and Romo and the rest of the offense went dormant after that. Whether Dallas became a little overconfident or the Bengals started playing better is hard to say; it seemed a little of both. Before his fourth quarter fireworks, Romo had completed only 10 of 19 passes with one INT and one fumble through three quarters. The Cowboys QB rarely threw to Terrell Owens in this game (only three targets), but at least Owens got loose for the long TD. As usual, Jason Witten was Romo's favorite target, but Patrick Crayton seemed an afterthought. Miles Austin had only one target, which he muffed and Crayton caught for a TD.

Week 6 - Romo finished with excellent numbers, but one would not have expected it after the first half. He had an average first half, only completing nine of 15 for 81 yards before throwing a 55 yard touchdown pass to a wide open Patrick Crayton with a minute to go before half time. His low yardage totals were the result of being forced to throw it to his closer targets due to being under pressure. The pressure was most effective when it was coming from the back side and caused him to fumble three times, losing one. He did almost have another fumble in his own end zone that was recovered for a Cardinal touchdown but that call was changed after Wade Phillips challenged the call on the field, saying that Romo's arm was still in the passing motion. The second half went better as Romo led the Cowboys on a scoring drive on their first possession. Romo was six of seven on the drive, and capped it off by throwing a perfect pass to the front corner of the end zone to Miles Austin. Two possessions later Romo threw a short screen pass to Marion Barber, who took it 70 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown to pull Dallas to within three points. On the next passion Romo led the team 34 yards in less than 50 seconds to set up the game tying field goal.

Week 11 - Not a bad first start back for Romo. He had a mixed game with some errors and also with some signs that he is capable of making all of the necessary throws. The Cowboys seemed content with throwing lots of check downs to Barber early on. This was likely done to get Romo some feel for the ball early on in the game. There were signs of rust and that the pinky is still bothering him some. He was picked by Hall to halt a drive deep in Redskins territory, he under threw Owens badly after double pumping. Romo had two interceptions on the day. On a positive note, he seems to be developing a good chemistry with newly acquired Roy Williams. The two hooked up for some decent gains. The high-light of the game for Romo was his shovel pass in the fourth quarter to Miles Austin after successfully avoiding the Redskins pass rush. It was very Favre like. On the very next play he hit a streaking Martellus Bennett for the winning touchdown.

Week 12 - Tony Romo had a difficult time getting going as he was unable to connect with his receivers in the first quarter. He completed his first two passes, but the second completion was off target and he was helped by an excellent catch by his receiver. Romo then misfired on his next five passes before throwing his best pass of the game, and in process helped turn the game around. He connected with Terrell Owens on a deep bomb that Owens was able to take into the end zone and give the Cowboys their first lead. After that play Romo began to work the defense by mixing in short dump off passes to his backs with deep balls to his wide outs to keep the defense off balance. He still showed that the splint on his pinkie is affecting his throwing by putting up some inaccurate or wobbly passes.

Week 13 - It didn't take long for Romo to get going in this contest. On the first offensive drive of the day, he led the Cowboys down the field with medium-length passes to WR Roy Williams and TE Jason Witten and then capped it off as he rolled out to the right and fired a 16 yard pass to a wide-open TE Martellus Bennett. On the third drive he added a second score as he found TE Jason Witten wide open for an eight yard score. Romo would enjoy this kind of passing success through most of the first half. The second half, however, got off to a rockier start. On the Cowboys' first drive of the third quarter, Romo tried to hit WR Terrell Owens deep in the end zone, but instead put the ball in the hands of one of the two covering DBs, Marcus Trufant. He made up for it on the next drive, though, when he hit Owens on two consecutive plays for a combined 52 yards and a TD. After that final score, with the Cowboys up as many as 25 points, Dallas looked to the rushing game to run out the clock, and thus Romo's fourth quarter numbers were virtually non-existent. Overall it was still an impressive performance.

Week 14 - Romo was not his usual self in the game, coming off a broken finger and also was affected by the tough playing conditions. He was not able to avoid the turnovers and gave Pittsburgh the ball four times. His hand got stepped on early in the game and that may have contributed to his problems. He was high on many throws, but also his receivers did not seem to help, running the wrong pattern more than a few times. One key mistake by TE Jason Witten led to a critical interception that sealed the game for Pittsburgh. Romo looked as if the cold weather may have affected his game.

Week 15 - Under duress for most of the night, Romo used his legs and athleticism a number of times to buy himself time to make big plays. An example of this came in the first quarter, when the quarterback threw a pass off his back foot to WR Terrell Owens that went for a pickup of 25 yards. On his scoring pass to WR Patrick Crayton in the second quarter, Romo extended the play by rolling to his right and then he threw a perfect ball on the run for the 35 yard touchdown. His second touchdown of the game came in the fourth quarter when he connected on a one yard scoring pass to FB Deon Anderson. Romo was slow to get up after a number of plays (it was reported in the first quarter that the he suffered a lower back contusion), but the quarterback gutted it out and was able to play the entire game.

Week 16 - Tony Romo had one of his worst games in recent memory. It was not apparent if his back injury, suffered last week, was the cause of his problems or something else was wrong. His passes seemed to hang up in the air, giving the defensive back plenty of time to make a play on the ball. Other times he was just off target as he overthrew his receivers on deep pass plays twice, passes that would have gone for touchdowns had he been able to connect with the receivers. His inability to connect with his receivers would haunt him as the Ravens blitzed him up the middle to create pressure and try to rattle him more. It took three quarters before Romo was able to connect with his receivers with any consistency, but that was when the game appeared to be well in hand and the Ravens were giving the receivers plenty of cushion, allowing them to catch the ball underneath and not giving up the big play.

Week 17 - Romo was simply overwhelmed in this game and had three turnovers, two fumbles and one interception. He completed just 21 of 39 tosses for 183 yards. He was pressured often and looked out of sync with all of his receivers.