The Rams drafted Austin in April and still took until November figuring out how to work him into the offense. Once they did, Austin got red-hot, using his lethal speed to make huge plays on offense for several weeks straight, including a breakout, record-setting 3 TD game in Indianapolis. And in classic Rams’ luck, just when Austin was at his hottest, he got injured. Brian Schottenheimer has to be ready to deploy Austin Week 1 next season with rapid success. Austin can help himself by getting stronger in the offseason, which will help him get off jams better, run through the ridiculous amount of uncalled holding he draws downfield and ward off injury better. If the Rams get Austin's fuse lit early in 2014 instead of flicking their Bics for two months, he'll explode on the league.
Chris Givens (34-569, ZERO TD): D
Surprising stat about Givens: he averaged more yards per catch in 2013 than 2012. That's weird, because he was nowhere near the deep ball factor he was as a rookie. Everything else dropped about him, too, as he was one of the season's biggest disappointments. Disappeared from games, couldn't beat any man coverage, ran sloppy routes and went full-on Eddie Kennison with The Worst Catch Of All Time against the 49ers. If not for 2012, I wouldn't bother having Givens around in 2014.
Austin Pettis (38-399, 4 TD): D+
Surprising amount of action, and scoring, early in the season before giving up a lot of his snaps to the youngsters. Decent red zone weapon but has never had the most reliable hands or the best speed.
Stedman Bailey (17 rec, 259 total yards, 1 TD): C-
Bailey was a pleasant surprise down the stretch, and by the end of the season, looked like the most professional receiver on the team. Runs excellent routes, with good hands and ability to catch difficult balls. Very positive factor on special teams and an all-around smart player. He understands how to be an NFL receiver more than anyone the Rams have. The sadly missed opportunity of 2013 was that it took so long to get him into the lineup.
Brian Quick (18-302, 2 TD): F
So far “the next T.O.” has produced one-third of what the original T.O. did his first two seasons. T.O. once had a 20-catch game, you know. Quick shows some professional-quality big-receiver play, but about as often as Halley's Comet comes, and almost always in trash time when DBs don't care about covering him anyway. His effort's good, and he's a good blocker. I'm sure he's a good kid. He's shown little hint he can even get open in the pros, though, has below-average hands and has been a terrible 2nd-round draft pick so far. Quick HAS to step it up next season assuming he's still around.
Looking ahead: The starters to me should be Austin, Bailey and somebody the Rams draft in the first round. I can see Givens or Quick as the third starter; I can also see them both getting cut in training camp. Last Chance Saloon for them. Pettis probably loses his snaps to Bailey and his roster spot to a rookie, though he's always been a bit of a survivor. The free agent market doesn't look like much help, certainly no #1 WR in it. Even a veteran like Santana Moss who could play a good role in a young receiving corps will probably be cost-prohibitive for the cap-strapped Rams.
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