St. Louis Rams 2013 depth chart: Where the receivers stand
Ram fans wanted to see rookie first round pick Tavon Austin and the other receivers on the roster. Let's look at how Austin and the gang did against the Browns.
When the St. Louis Rams took to the field to play the Cleveland Browns all eyes were on the offense. Will their weapons be more explosive then last seasons? The answer to that is still a maybe. One receiver made an impression, the rest will need the next three games to establish their place on the roster.
Here's how the receivers did against the Browns.
Chris Givens:
It's pretty obvious who the Rams' number one target is this season. Givens picked up where he left off last season catching 3 passes for 82 yards. Honestly it just wasn't the deep reception that was impressive, but also the 20 yard reception.
Going into the game, Givens wasn't a question mark. That didn't change after the Browns game. Hiss biggest issue has been bringing more to the team than catching the ball deep, and he showed this week that he's been working on it. It will be interesting to see if Givens will move into the slot to catch a few passes during the preseason. Will the Rams give him reps there so that he can create more mismatches when the regular season starts?
Tavon Austin:
The whole world was excited to see the Rams first-round pick play, but it looks like he will have to wait until next week to give fans what they have been waiting on. He played, but besides dropping a contested ball, you may have forgotten that Austin was on the field. Remember when he lined up for a punt return and it was kicked short? Maybe teams will be scared of him during the season and do the same thing, good field position is good field position.
Going into the game the Rams had a vanilla gameplan so it wasn't a shock that Austin played mostly in the slot. The Rams won't showcase their main weapon until the season starts.
Austin Pettis:
Besides a dropped pass Pettis didn't do much. The Rams can't go into the regular season with Pettis as a starter. He can be good in a short yardage/red zone/ 3rd down role, but starting? Honestly it's hard to see the Rams starting him unless there's an injury.
Brian Quick:
Quick was pretty impressive against the Browns. The only downside was that it was against backups. Quick did what should have been expected and got some catches against backups. It was a relief that he showed up. He did have a drop near the sidelines that he should have caught, but receivers don't catch everything no matter what you hear. Also I would like to see him get open more, but if he can make catches in coverage it won't matter.
Quick should start in front of Pettis before the preseason is over. If he can get open against starting corners, then we can get excited.
Stedman Bailey:
One of my favorite new additions on the roster. Bailey started with Quick on the second team, and he impressed me more. He showed good hands on his two catches, and I Iiked how the Rams used him in the slot. It's hard to project him over Quick, but he should be higher than Pettis.
Bailey will be a good backup to all the receiver positions, and should get some playing time in the preseason. He could easily be a good second or third option on most teams. If the Rams didn't draft Austin, Bailey would probably start in the slot.
Raymond Radway:
I didn't see much of him. He dropped a deep throw that could have been a touchdown, but he caught a pass and got a lot of YAC on a reception that ended up being a 52-yard touchdown. Radway has a shot to be the team's sixth receiver.
