The Roy Williams Trade: Spiking Fantasy Values Across the Board

By now you've heard the news that Roy Williams was dealt to the Dallas Cowboys -- not that Roy Williams, but this Roy Williams (see image). Yes sir, the Lions opted to throw in the towel on their debacle of a half-century season and part ways with the former first-rounder. Meanwhile, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys swooped into to grab some more big-name talent under the same business model as the New York Yankees.

It all depends which side of the camp you're on when pegging one side the winner or the other the loser from a football perspective. However, there weren't just two teams affected by this deal. No sir, there were millions upon millions of teams affected by this deal. And that's where we come in with the fantasy spin. Yup, aside from just your fantasy team, there's a whole grocery list of players from both the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions that may have seen their fortunes change for the better or worse today.

Let's start with the Lions...

Dan Orlovksy: With the news that Jon "Jesus is Just Alright" Kitna opted for the Lord to heal his back and not modern medicine – the Lions put him on IR for the season. And that means the show belongs to Dan Orlovksy... for now. Surprisingly, losing a valuable asset like Roy Williams shouldn't hamper Orlovksy's performance too much. That's taking into consideration that his line wouldn't have been able to protect anyway for Orlovksy to utilize Williams very much at all. Besides, you shouldn't really be playing this guy anyway and the gut feeling here is that it's soon to be Drew Stanton time in Detroit. Impact: Minimal.

Drew Stanton: TBD.

Calvin Johnson: Obviously he's now looking at a lot more double coverage and he should get a feel for what it's like to be defensive back, as he'll need to break up a lot of passes intended for the other team. Yes, long and short – this deal hurts Johnson for the remainder of this season. He was finally emerging as the dominating force we all envisioned him to be. It's a no-brainer that losing a talent like Roy Williams on the opposite side could very well make life miserable for Calvin in an already miserable offense. Impact: Major.

Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey: A couple of slot receivers that are carryovers or followers from the Mike Martz regime have been lost without the Mad Scientist. Seriously, they've been non-existent. And although, each of them will most likely get a few more looks with Roy Williams out of the picture, I still wouldn't bank on them being at all productive in fantasy terms. Impact: Minimal.

Lions TE: Oh, that's right – they don't ever, ever throw the ball to the tight end in Detroit. Between Michael Gaines and Casey Fitzsimmons they've combined for 10 catches, 87 yards and one TD. Pass. Impact: None.

Kevin Smith and Rudi Johnson: Who's it gonna be Kevin or Rudi? The Lions don't even have the slightest clue. With Kitna and now Roy Williams out of the mix, you've gotta think this will mean the Lions finally execute their run first offense as promised. Clearly, if there is any beneficial Fantasy impact to be had because of this trade – it's gotta be the RB's...right? I know, you can't run the ball when you're down 21-0. However, they're down to only two QB's and I don't think Andre Ware or Erik Kramer are gonna walk through that door anytime soon. Impact: Major.

Now for the Cowboys...

Tony Romo: Well, considering he's nursing a pinkie injury, it's a wait and see. However, with all those toys to play with in the offense it's hard to find a negative. He's got two elite playmakers on the outside at his disposal and arguably the best tight end over the middle. Life is good (insert your own Jessica Simpson joke here). If you own Romo, you're probably giddy, because although he's sitting for a couple of weeks right now, his stats are sure to spike up when he returns. Fair assessment and the only thing that could get in the way of this fantasy wet dream might be that Romo has too much at his disposal to keep everyone happy and content. See T.O. Impact: Major.

Brad Johnson: Talk about getting handed the keys to a Porsche? If the Dallas offense wasn't loaded enough, now Johnson gets to add another home run threat in Roy Williams. As Jason Garrett lectures Johnson to "just play within yourself," you can almost hear Johnson mentally uttering "conservative my (bleep)." With St. Louis on tap, yes even Brad Johnson feels the spike in value. Impact: Major.

Terrell Owens: Good and bad. Yes, that gasp you just heard was T.O. However, on the bright side he's got another playmaker downfield who can take the pressure off some of the coverage he faces. In the short term, it's probably going to be just wonderful. Williams will be learning the new offense, yet commanding attention that might free up T.O. Yet, do you really see this not ending badly? I don't like the end result for T.O... many condolences to T.O owners. Impact: Major.

Marion Barber: He's been getting very little love in the fledgling running game, but the addition of Williams is certainly going to help. You can't really stack the box with two talents like T.O and Williams roaming downfield. Ah yes, less space in the middle means more room for Marion Barber to run. Does that mean he's going to get more touches? No, but it might mean he makes more out of those touches. Um, he's been averaging around 3.2 yards per carry in recent weeks. This can only help, I believe. Impact: Minimal.

Felix Jones: The rookie is hurt, but that doesn't mean he'll be forgotten when he returns. Jason Garrett is already feeling the pressure to get him the ball more often. The impact of adding Williams has a neutral impact on Jones. He's going to see more action when healthy and that just means cutting into Barber's workload. Impact: None.

Jason Witten: He's not going anywhere. Again, I'm going with minimal to no impact for Witten. Sure, Roy Williams may take away a few targets here and there. However, with Johnson at the helm and the game plan most likely less extravagant, Witten will still get his. When Romo returns, he's simply not just going to ignore Witten. Impact: Mixed.

Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin: It's been fun while it lasted guys, but you've now been relegated to being useless for fantasy purposes. Not that either guy was on the fast track for success. In fact, Crayton was on the downward and Austin on the upward. Now, they're both stuck in reverse, because there is just not enough love to go around in Dallas. Nope, just not with this many mouths or egos to feed.
Impact: Major.

Roy Williams: So, what about the man himself. Well, let's be realistic in fantasy terms, Williams has been kinda hit or miss. He's only gone over a 1,000 yards once in his career and has never punched up double-digit TDs in a single season. Yes, we can blame a lot of that on the porous Lions teams he dealt with. Is he a big, big talent upgrade for the Cowboys... yes. However, as mentioned with all the talent already surrounding him in Big D, my guess is Williams just wants to fit in.

Sure, he'll be a much more reliable fantasy option in Dallas than he was in Detroit, but in terms of entering the upper echelon of fantasy receivers – I just don't see it. Not this year at least. He gets a value spike, but as always, temper your expectations. My guess is that Roy just wants to win. And if that means letting somebody else be the man, so be it. Impact: TBD.