Dallas Should Bench Romo and Start Kitna. There, I Said It.

by Skeller on Jul 1, 2009 8:00 AM EDT in Football

In a blog post on the Dallas Morning News site, there's an interesting article about how Bengals' QB Carson Palmer was praising his former mentor - and current Cowboys' backup QB - Jon Kitna. Palmer went on about how Kitna has a lot to teach starter Tony Romo and that Romo should listen to him. It was a nice, respectful comment by Palmer. Good for him.

But I thought the key line was right here:

Jon Kitna's arm strength is the most obvious reason he's a significant upgrade for the Cowboys at backup quarterback. Unlike Brad Johnson, Kitna can still put plenty of zip on his passes.

True, but the guy is missing the point. Let me rewrite that paragraph:

Jon Kitna's experience is the most obvious reason he's an upgrade for the Cowboys at starting quarterback. Unlike Tony Romo, Kitna can still complete plenty of passes to receivers that nobody has heard of.

And that's what it all comes down to. This year Tony Romo doesn't have Terrell Owens. He has Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin. Yeah, Miles Austin, he'll get the job done. How will Romo do with that group? My bet is not that well. How would Jon Kitna do? Well, he has experience with Roy Williams and he helped make a bunch of unknowns (guys like Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey) into legitimate fantasy stars. Kitna put up massive numbers with less talent than they have in Dallas. MIUCH less talent.

Which brings me to my real point -- I don't know if starting Kitna would win the Cowboys any more games, but it would sure be better for fantasy football players. Give Jon Kitna a solid running game, a good offensive line and Roy Williams, and he'll throw for 4000 yards. I'm sure of it. Give Tony Romo the same things, and he throws for 15-20% fewer yards.

This might seem mercenary to Cowboy fans, but I don't care. I want to see great fantasy production out of the Dallas passing offense and I think Jon Kitna is the one to deliver it. Do it Dallas, bench Romo and start Kitna. You won't regret it.

Well, I won't regret it.

Tweet Comment 3 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Wow

Tony Romo regularly puts up a QB rating in the realm of 95 or so. Kitna is a mid to high 70’s guy who puts up a ton more turnovers. Not to mention Dallas’ O-Line is vastly overrated, and Romo has to scramble a lot more than most QB’s. Put a statue like Kitna in there, and he gets sacked five times a game and the offense doesn’t move.

Romo still has Witten, and while he has no elite WR’s, he has a great RB trio, all of which are competent receivers out of the backfield. Since Romo doesn’t have to always look for TO this year, he’s able to scan the field and throw to the open WR instead of placating Terrell’s ego. Kitna, while competent is not even remotely in Romo’s league. Starting him over Romo is ludicrous. If anything, Romo will do better this year.

Regardless of QB, Dallas should be running the ball more. They had one of the highest pass/run ratios in the league the past two years, which would be a huge mistake now with Choice and Felix in the backfield.

by NerdVernacular on Jul 1, 2009 10:07 AM EDT reply actions

NFL-wise that might be true

But fantasy-wise I have to disagree.

Romo has never played more than a single game with T.O. Think about that — his entire career he’s had a Hall of Fame WR. Now he doesn’t. Last season Romo looked lost for large parts of games. I don’t see how the Cowboys lose TO and Romo gets better.

On the other hand, Kitna consistently puts up big, big fantasy points. Sure, he might throw 22 INTs in a season and the Cowboys might lose 5 games by 3 points or less. I don’t care, I’m not a Cowboys fan, I just want the fantasy points!

by Skeller on Jul 1, 2009 11:55 PM EDT reply actions

Up until his injury last year

Romo had the highest point per game total in my fantasy league right alongside Clinton Portis. The year before that, he was top 3. I think TO’s role in Dallas’ offense is being dramatically overrated by most people. He drops a lot of balls and demands looks that otherwise would go to open receivers. Between Witten, Bennett, Felix Jones, Miles Austin, Roy Williams, Marion Barber, I think Romo’s completion % will jump a few points, and while his yardage might suffer a little, that’s more a product of having good RB depth. TD-wise, I think he’s going to throw for 40+ if he stays healthy. If it were Kitna in there, I’d give him 28 or so TD’s, because he isn’t consistent enough to sustain drives and not nearly mobile enough to work well behind the Cowboys’ O-Line.

by NerdVernacular on Jul 2, 2009 12:30 PM EDT reply actions