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Brian Quick (25 catches, 375 yards
(15.0 ypc), 3 TD): B-
Really grew as a receiver in 2014
before a week 7 shoulder injury ended his season. Showed the
reliability and my-ball mindset to take over the go-to big WR role.
Has some rough edges to refine, and I don't see him going to the Hall
of Fame just because he can beat soft coverage with simple routes,
but he couldn't even do that his first two seasons. Quick's
light-years ahead of that now and is another young Ram poised for a
breakout in 2015.
Kenny Britt (48 catches, 748 yards
(15.6 ypc), 3 TD): C
2014 was actually close to a career
year for Britt. He started slowly and was clearly the back-seat
receiver to Quick, but made a number of clutch catches and some
outstanding grabs after Quick's injury. Made some big catches deep
but was really not a credible deep threat. The elite CBs like Sherman
and Peterson shut him down almost completely. Best role seems to be
as a big possession receiver. Earns extra credit for his leadership,
toughness and for staying out of trouble off the field.
Stedman Bailey (30 catches, 435 yards
(14.5 ypc), 1 TD): C
Though his league suspension was
shortened from the first four weeks to the first two, Bailey rarely
re-captured the momentum he had built with a strong preseason. Is
probably the Rams' smartest receiver and is for sure its best
route-runner. He also showed sticky hands and made some tough catches
in traffic, but we only saw flashes of it.
Tavon Austin (31 catches, 242 yards
(7.8 ypc), 36 carries, 224 yards (6.2 ypc), 2 TD): C
Austin provided the offense with some
Percy Harvin-like flashes, but he's really only a gadget player. He
offers little as a receiver beyond quick screens. He needs someone to
take the focus off him; if he weren't the receiver most defenses
tried to shut down first, he might be able to make better use of his
elusiveness after the catch. For a top-ten draft pick, you'd really
have hoped he'd be doing more by this point than running jet sweeps.
The gadget-y plays need to be part of a total receiving package that
currently is still far from complete.
Chris Givens (11 catches, 159 yards
(14.5 ypc), 1 TD): D
Not sure he had a catch this season
outside of garbage time. His rookie year, he was the kind of weapon
John Brown was in Arizona this season. I don't know what happened.
Looking ahead: The Rams are younger
than the audience at a Onerepublic concert at WR - at 26, Britt is
the elder statesman - and fitting their age, have a lot of growing up
to do. Quick and Bailey took some individual steps, and Britt
probably still has some upside to play into. If the Rams can get any
stability at all at QB, we shouldn't see the passing game out of sync
as much as it was this year, and a consistent QB with a decent deep
ball would be very instrumental toward evolving this group to the
next level.
RamView's move: The trend of mock
drafts I've seen so far has Alabama WR Amari Cooper falling out of
the top ten. I think it would be foolish of the Rams to pass on
Cooper at #10 unless Marcus Mariota is also on the board. Even
assuming the Rams re-sign UFA Britt, which I'd be in favor of doing,
they still won't have even a warm-up act for the Greatest Show at the
position. Cooper would give them a big slot receiver they don't have
and a deep threat they don't have. Put him out wide, you can finally
open up the field for Austin out of the slot. For all the promise
Quick showed last year, coming off the major shoulder injury, we
really don't know how much to trust him. The Rams passed on taking
ANYONE from what's already regarded the best WR draft class of all
time last year. Do not repeat that mistake in 2015 if a top prospect
is available. If Cooper's gone by #10, say, to the Bears (see below),
then cross your fingers and hope Sammy Coates, who I like a ton, is
there in the 2nd round. He's got the size, the speed, the
ability to win while the ball's in the air, the red zone
effectiveness and the my-ball attitude. Main flaw has been drops, but
that didn't manifest at the Senior Bowl or Combine, and Ray Sherman's
receivers really cut down their drops last year. Coates can be a
big-time player, and he's from Auburn, so the Rams already love him
unconditionally.
Shoot the moon: First of all, the Bears
gave up Brandon Marshall for a FIFTH-round pick? How is that even
possible? For crying out loud, the Rams gave up a four and a six for
Mark Barron! How could they NOT have been looking to get in on the
Marshall action? Well, they'll be knocking quite a bit of veteran
salaries off the cap in the near future. The Dolphins are wasting premier deep threat Mike Wallace as a possession receiver and he's quite unhappy. He's getting stupid money there and would gobble up a lot of the Rams' cap space. Still, draft Cooper and get Wallace for a, say,
fifth-rounder? NOW you're stretching the field.
Way-too-specific Rams prediction: The
Rams re-sign Britt, who would be foolish to believe he doesn't need
Fisher. On draft night, with Mariota and Cooper still on the board,
the Rams swap picks with the Eagles and pick up a third-round pick.
At #20, they draft Florida tackle D.J. Humphries and pencil him in at
starting right tackle. Humphries represents a solid pick-up at #20,
but Rams Nation will be justifiably bewildered at the low return the
Rams got for trading out of a spot when they had a choice between
two premier college offensive stars.
-$-
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