Should you start Romo right away?

To be honest, what I’m really wondering is whether I should start Romo this week. But I’m sure I’m not alone on this one. There are thousands of owners out there who have had to make do with starting their backup for the past few weeks, and while they’re chomping at the bit to put Romo back in, they’re suspiciously eyeing Romo’s ailing pinkie – and Washington’s 8th-ranked pass defense.

While the Cowboys don’t want to give the Redskins any help and thus aren’t likely to be completely forthcoming about Romo’s injury, we can read a bit into what Romo, his teammates, and the coaches are saying:

  • Tony Romo: “No different than having a little bruise or something… You play through it.” This is reassuring, but my bullshit meter is beeping furiously. It’s not a bruise, it’s a broken bone in a finger on your throwing hand. It’s not a deal-with-the-pain kind of injury, it’s one that directly affects the strength of your grip. Kurt Warner’s thumb injury led to severe fumbling problems that dogged him for years. I’m not suggesting the same thing will happen to Romo; I’m just saying that pain isn’t the concern here, it’s the strength of the digit. If Romo isn’t addressing that aspect of the injury, it makes me wonder.
  • Terrell Owens: “He’s trying to get a feel for what he can do and what he can’t do.” I don’t like the sound of that. If there’s anything he can’t do, that means the pinkie is still in pretty rough shape.
  • Coach Wade Phillips: “He has got zip on the ball. Players see that, and I think it helps our practices.” Zip is great. But he doesn’t exactly sound like he’s expressing complete confidence.

Obviously, this is a fluid situation, and it’s definitely going to be important to find out what we can about how things go in practice today and tomorrow. That said, I’d feel a lot better about Romo’s chances for a decent fantasy performance this Sunday if he was taking on the Lions or another Junior Varsity squad. It’s hard to feel good about Romo being thrown directly to the wolves – the wolves in this case being a talented and tough Redskins team with its sights set on a playoff run. Expect lots of “inadvertent” swipes at Romo’s throwing hand on every pass rush.

Luckily for me, my Romo fill-in has been Matt Ryan, who has performed remarkably well for a rookie and seen his % Start in Yahoo leagues go from 18% in week 8 to 60% in week 11. Ryan takes on the 28th-ranked Denver pass defense this week, which has me leaning toward starting him over Romo. Hell, if he could throw for 277 yards and two touchdowns against Philly in week 8, it stands to reason that he could have a monster game against the Broncos in what could be a real shootout (who ever thought we’d be saying the Falcons could be involved in a shootout this season?). While it pains me to bench Romo for a rookie, the matchup, his probable rust, and his potential pinkie problems are all a bit too much of a risk for me to take when I have a good option in Ryan.