Ram Bytes: Too soon to call Quick a bust

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CGI_Ram

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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_7138d3d4-9667-5a29-9d4d-fd831c89d496.html

With his first two NFL seasons nearly in the books, Rams wide receiver Brian Quick is developing at a disappointing pace.

For an STL team that was lacking elite talent at wideout, I think it's fair to say that more was expected from Quick, the 33rd overall choice in the 2012 NFL draft.

The question: is Quick a bust?

No.

Not yet. I won't tag Quick with that.

It's way too soon.

For an example of why it's wise to be cautious before slapping premium draft picks with the “bust” label, take a look at Tampa Bay wide receiver Vincent Jackson. He'll be here Sunday, when the Buccaneers play the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome.

The similarities between Jackson and Quick are striking.

Here's what they have in common:

* Both were drafted out of small-college football programs. Jackson came out of Northern Colorado, and Quick played for Appalachian State.

* Both were chosen in the second round. San Diego chose Jackson 61st overall in 2005. The Rams tabbed Quick with the first pick of the second round in '12.

* Both are large-target receivers with undeniable speed and athleticism. Jackson is 6-5, 240 pounds. Quick is 6-3, 220 pounds.

* After his first two NFL seasons, Jackson had 30 catches for an average of 17.1 yards and pulled in six touchdowns.

* With his second season winding down, Quick has 27 catches for an average of 16.4 yards and four touchdowns.

Jackson began taking flight in his third season, starting all 16 games and making 41 catches. Jackson hit his stride in his fourth season (2008),with 59 receptions for 1,098 yards and seven touchdowns. In his fifth season, Jackson was voted to the Pro Bowl for the first time. (He's earned that honor three times.)

Jackson has rolled up 1,000-yard seasons in five of the last six years, and is well established as one of the NFL's most dangerous big-play threats at the position.

That's why Tampa Bay signed Jackson to a five-year free-agent deal for $55 million before the 2012 season. And he hasn't let them down. In 30 games with the Bucs Jackson has 141 receptions for 2,475 yards (17.6 per catch) and 15 touchdowns. Jackson was a Pro Bowl pick last season and is a contender again this year.

I'm not saying Quick will develop into a Jackson-caliber receiver. That would require a rather significant leap in confidence to make such a prediction.

But given the slow start to Jackson's career as he made the transition from small-college ball to the NFL, it would be absolutely foolish to write off Quick at this point.

If Quick has any chance to approximate Jackson's growth curve, he'll have to become a lot more productive in 2014. The third season is when Jackson began to figure it all out.

Ramblings...

I've been negligent this season in passing along some Rams-specific notes distributed to me by my friends at my favorite football site, Pro Football Focus. I guess it's better late than never this season.

Anyway, here are a few recent nuggets passed along by PFF assistant editor Trevor Jones _ plus some other notes culled from the PFF site:

-- Zac Stacy's 133 yards rushing against the Saints, 109 came after contact. Stacy ranks 9th among NFL running backs in average yards after contact on outside runs.

-- Rodger Saffold is thriving since his move to guard. PFF has given Saffold a plus grade as a run blocker in four of his five games at right guard.

-- The Rams' best run-blocking performances against the Saints came at tight end (Lance Kendricks), left tackle (Jake Long) and right guard (Saffold.)

-- More on Jake Long: PFF grades his season as the fifth-best overall among NFL offensive tackles. And Long is tied with San Diego's King Dunlap in the run-blocking ratings at offensive tackle.

-- The Rams had 28 QB pressures on the Saints' Drew Brees, including 10 by right DE Robert Quinn and seven from left DE Chris Long.

-- Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins did a terrfic job against Saints wide receiver Marques Colston. Brees targeted Colston four times when Jenkins covered him, and Jenkins allowed only one catch for 12 yards.

-- The Saints targeted their outstanding tight end Jimmy Graham six times; he caught two passes for 25 yards and both of Brees' interceptions came on targets to Graham.

-- The Rams' pass-rush pressure could cause migraines for Tampa Bay on Sunday; the Bucs rank 26th in the NFL in pass blocking efficiency.

-- The Rams' Johnny Hekker is having an excellent season; PFF rates him as the NFC's best punter and the league's second-best punter behind Houston's Shane Lechler. Based on performance grades, Hekker's performance is worthy of a Pro Bowl selection.

-- In all phases of placekicking, the Rams' Greg Zuerlein is rated 9th overall among NFL kickers.

Thanks for reading …

-Bernie
 

Ramhusker

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WAY too soon to consider him a bust. Most WRs don't show up until year 3. Of course, there are exceptions like AJ Green and Julio Jones but most of the great ones of the past have taken a little time to adjust. Now after next season we don't see some pretty significant increase in production, you can start getting concerned.
 

F. Mulder

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Next year is the year. He has first round talent but he needs to dedicate this offseason to refining his position and the little things that separate him from other guys with tons of talent who are now used car salesmen. Add to that the intangible passion of wanting it and believing he belongs and we could all be surprised at what he can do. I still get the vibe that he plays like he doesn't believe he belongs yet. Show some arrogance!

The futures of guys like Givens, Quick, Pead, Pettis, and a few others will come much clearer next year IMO.
 

V3

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I don't consider him a bust but I do consider him to be a bad pick. I expect A LOT more from the first pick in the 2nd round. If they knew he was going to take this long to develop(like they keep claiming they did), the Rams shouldn't have drafted him so early. The first pick in the 2nd round should be a starter in his rookie season and should be a solid contributor by his second. Quick has been neither.
 

Alan

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Yeah, I agree with that sentiment V3.

2014 could be the year though.
 
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It's tough to call him a bust when on his 2nd year the main QB goes down and its hard to judge someone on there 2nd year because I believe sophomore slump is a very real thing
 

Alan

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Tony iz Ramlike added:
It's tough to call him a bust when on his 2nd year the main QB goes down and its hard to judge someone on there 2nd year because I believe sophomore slump is a very real thing
At some level he's already not given us a good return on our investment. With shorter contracts being given to draftees it's very important that they contribute early. All the examples of WRs who suddenly became good in their third or 4th years happened on teams before the new draft rules. By not picking a WR that was closer to NFL ready we already potentially put ourselves in a hole. The decision to draft a project came at a real bad time for the Rams too. If we already had good WRs we could afford to bring him along slowly.

Still, better late than never.
 
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Ram Quixote

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Everyone seems to forget his last game with Bradford, other than the dropped TD pass, that was one of his best games. Now we go through the next 7 games with KC at QB and you must realize that the opportunities among the receiving corp are rare. Add in Bailey's emergence and the touches among all of them are reduced even further.

It seems obvious to me that Bradford's trip to IR has prevented Quick's advancement as a receiver.
 

kurtfaulk

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Everyone seems to forget his last game with Bradford, other than the dropped TD pass, that was one of his best games. Now we go through the next 7 games with KC at QB and you must realize that the opportunities among the receiving corp are rare. Add in Bailey's emergence and the touches among all of them are reduced even further.

It seems obvious to me that Bradford's trip to IR has prevented Quick's advancement as a receiver.

yeah, the first pass from scrimmage was going to him deep, he had beat his man and in all likelyhood it would have been a long td, but bradfords arm got tipped in throwing motion and it eneded up being a pick 6.

still, that dropped td pass was terrible. he's just got to make that catch, there are no excuses for him. his drops, and inability to fight for a contested ball, are like an anvil to his career progression.

.
 
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WAY too soon to consider him a bust. Most WRs don't show up until year 3. Of course, there are exceptions like AJ Green and Julio Jones but most of the great ones of the past have taken a little time to adjust. Now after next season we don't see some pretty significant increase in production, you can start getting concerned.

Is that actually true or is it one of those football myths like 40 times matter or you can't be under 6 foot and a NFL QB?

It's just something I hear a lot and yet have never seen any statistical evidence for.
 

moklerman

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Everyone seems to forget his last game with Bradford, other than the dropped TD pass, that was one of his best games. Now we go through the next 7 games with KC at QB and you must realize that the opportunities among the receiving corp are rare. Add in Bailey's emergence and the touches among all of them are reduced even further.

It seems obvious to me that Bradford's trip to IR has prevented Quick's advancement as a receiver.
He also dropped a first down that killed the first drive after the interception. Nice catch on the 73 yarder but a dropped first down and dropped TD pretty much sum up everyone's frustration with him.
 

mr.stlouis

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Hey that was a great read! I have some random thoughts.

-Clock hasn't struck midnight for Quick, but it's dang sure 10:30 anyhow.

-I thought Richardson was played really poor earlier in the year because he has little to no YAC and can't push the pile. He takes what's created by the line and drops like a fly. Obviously needs to be used on the edge mostly.

-Jake Long earned his money, he had me worried with the few times he struggled to get up. He only allowed a couple sacks I beleive.

Zac Stacy just came in and lit it up. He developed really fast and looks like a fith year player out there. I'd like to draft 1 more guy just like him and Benny. That's my favorite style of running back being its way too hard to find guys like LT and Faulk (<--- my favorite player all time)

7-9 would exceed my expectations, considerably, for the Samless Rams. I really think that speaks volumes for Fisher and the leadership on this team.
 

Ramhusker

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Hey that was a great read! I have some random thoughts.

-Clock hasn't struck midnight for Quick, but it's dang sure 10:30 anyhow.

-I thought Richardson was played really poor earlier in the year because he has little to no YAC and can't push the pile. He takes what's created by the line and drops like a fly. Obviously needs to be used on the edge mostly.

-Jake Long earned his money, he had me worried with the few times he struggled to get up. He only allowed a couple sacks I beleive.

Zac Stacy just came in and lit it up. He developed really fast and looks like a fith year player out there. I'd like to draft 1 more guy just like him and Benny. That's my favorite style of running back being its way too hard to find guys like LT and Faulk (<--- my favorite player all time)

7-9 would exceed my expectations, considerably, for the Samless Rams. I really think that speaks volumes for Fisher and the leadership on this team.
Who do you like? Hyde? Seastrunk?
 

blackbart

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yeah, the first pass from scrimmage was going to him deep, he had beat his man and in all likelyhood it would have been a long td, but bradfords arm got tipped in throwing motion and it eneded up being a pick 6.

still, that dropped td pass was terrible. he's just got to make that catch, there are no excuses for him. his drops, and inability to fight for a contested ball, are like an anvil to his career progression.

.
He has 2 drops this season and made a heck of a catch in traffic yesterday. Two targets two catches. Can't develop much when those are the only targets and the team only throws the ball 20 times.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=331222014
 

Thordaddy

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Everyone seems to forget his last game with Bradford, other than the dropped TD pass, that was one of his best games. Now we go through the next 7 games with KC at QB and you must realize that the opportunities among the receiving corp are rare. Add in Bailey's emergence and the touches among all of them are reduced even further.

It seems obvious to me that Bradford's trip to IR has prevented Quick's advancement as a receiver.
See I kinda think SB going down has made every player on this team work harder than otherwise so I'd hold off with saying his advancement has been hurt ,I would say his perceived advancement has been hurt but actual may be more.
 

Mojo Ram

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I think we should be looking closely at WR coach Ray Sherman and what he's doing(or not doing).
 

Thordaddy

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I think we should be looking closely at WR coach Ray Sherman and what he's doing(or not doing).
Ya know 8 weeks ago I was thinkin the same thing about our special teams coach,NOW UHHHHH not so much
 

Mojo Ram

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Ya know 8 weeks ago I was thinkin the same thing about our special teams coach,NOW UHHHHH not so much
Ha true...our ST's have really come along compared to a few years ago when just simple coverage was a nightmare waiting to happen.

WR's-I just don't see enough progression as a unit. Quick is a raw kid,sure...but we've drafted/added some talented ppl and route running/awareness/hands still seems to be a big problem. Pettis is the "vet" and yet he rarely gets open. Givens has regressed despite the additions of Cook and T.Austin.

Maybe i'm just being impatient.