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Brandon Weeden's Updated 2015 Fantasy Outlook After Tony Romo's Injury

Fantasy Football
September 20, 2015

Quarterbacks cannot rack up fantasy points unless given the opportunity, and Brandon Weeden now has a golden opportunity with the Dallas Cowboys.

The director of media and programming for the Cowboys, Derek Eagleton, noted Sunday that star quarterback Tony Romo fractured his clavicle against the Philadelphia Eagles. That means Weeden is now the starting signal-caller for a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations and plenty of offensive talent.

The problem for the Cowboys and fantasy owners is Weeden is not one of those players with plenty of talent.

Weeden boasted 26 career touchdown passes to 28 interceptions coming into Sunday’s contest and a mediocre 56 percent completion mark. He is also not a threat to pick up rushing yards (154 in his career), and SportsCenter highlighted just how much the former Oklahoma State Cowboy has struggled in the professional ranks:

Jeff Cavanaugh of 105.3 The Fan indicated the plan for Dallas at this point should just be to survive Romo’s setback:

That is not an enticing plan for Weeden fantasy owners, and the absence of superstar receiver Dez Bryant only worsens the quarterback’s prospects. Bryant tallied three straight years of more than 1,200 receiving yards and led the league with 16 touchdown catches last year, but he suffered a broken foot in Week 1.

Even a quarterback like Weeden can throw it where someone like Bryant can catch it.

Weeden still has Terrance Williams (eight touchdown catches a season ago), Lance Dunbar (led the team with 70 receiving yards in Week 1) and Cole Beasley as a threat from the slot, but none of them is as talented as Bryant.

Perhaps the best option for Weeden is tight end Jason Witten, who racked up more than 700 receiving yards in each of the past 11 seasons. He also topped 1,000 receiving yards four different years and had 59 career touchdowns coming into Sunday’s game.

There are few tight ends in the history of the league as consistent as Witten, and Weeden can build fantasy points simply by throwing him the ball.

What’s more, Dallas has arguably the top offensive line in the league, so Weeden should have time to find open targets. Pro Football Focus rated the Cowboys as the No. 1 offensive line in the NFL in 2014 (fourth in pass blocking and second in run blocking):

Years of building through the draft paid off in spectacular fashion. It was already a pretty good line, but the selection of Zack Martin pushed them over the edge. Strong in pass protection and opening up running lanes that would get me to 1,000 yards, the Cowboys were a true joy to watch. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?

It is easy to point to the offensive line and an incredibly consistent tight end and say that Weeden could perhaps give fantasy owners a spark if given the chance. Still, it’s impossible to ignore his lackluster track record when making lineup decisions.

You should not put him in your lineup unless you are in an absolutely desperate situation with injuries or if you are scraping at the bottom of the waiver-wire barrel in a deep league.

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