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Thursday, September 8, 2011

Much to the disappointment of Peyton Manning owners, the star quarterback underwent his third neck surgery in the past 19 months today and the minimum recovery time is two to three months. Do some quick math and he is expected to miss at least 8-12 games. Do a little more math and that could leave you with only a handful of games to use him during the fantasy season. That's the bad news.

The good news is that the surgery makes it a lot easier to answer the question about what to do with him if he's on your roster. If you are in a standard league, it's time to let him go. Even if he manages to return this season, he isn't going to be himself right away, and with limited bench space you can't afford to tie up a spot for the entire season.

If you happen to be in a deeper league where quarterbacks are extra scarce and you can spare some bench space, then it may be worth a flyer to hang onto him, just in case his recovery goes better than expected.

Hopefully, when you drafted Manning you planned ahead and made sure you got a solid backup for him. If not, you're probably not going to find anyone out there to get too excited about.

Kerry Collins makes sense as a guy to look at as a fill in. I won't say replacement, because you will not be able to replace Manning's production. He should be an adequate fantasy quarterback and he has plenty of weapons.

Here are four other veterans that are available in a lot of leagues that you could take a look at:

Ryan Fitzpatrick - He tied for 16th most points amongst QB's last season despite only playing in 13 games. His 17.5 point per game average actually moves him inside the top 10.

Donovan McNabb - I don't think he was as bad as he looked last season. He'll have to prove that in Minnesota, but you have to like that they are an indoor team and he has Adrian Peterson to help get him into the red zone where he can make good use of his tight ends.

Alex Smith - I haven't given up on him yet. If the 49ers and their offensive line get their act together then he will have some promising matchups this season. He actually has one in the first week versus Seattle, a team he has fared well against in the past.

Chad Henne - He's a gamble, for sure, but you could do worse. With receivers like Brandon Marshall and Davone Bess, he will have some good games to go with the bad. He could also see a boost from Reggie Bush who will get him some extra yards.