St. Louis Rams have fierce battle at receiver position

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By Brian McIntyre
Around the League writer
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... witter_atl

[nfl]09000d5d82a761ec[/nfl]

Training camp is finally almost here. They allow tackling there and everything. Around the League will count down the top 30 position battles to watch throughout the preseason.

No. 18: St. Louis Rams wide receivers

• On their current 90-man offseason roster, the Rams have a league-low ten wide receivers (and nine tight ends) vying for what may only be five or six spots on the 53-man roster. A few of those spots have already been locked up. The Rams used the No. 33 overall draft pick on Appalachian State receiver Brian Quick, who signed a four-year, $5.387 million contract that included $3.822 million in guaranteed money, and spent the No. 96 draft pick on Wake Forest receiver Chris Givens.

Quick and Givens are not going anywhere. Beyond that, it's a free-for-all for three, maybe four roster spots.

• Slot receiver extraordinaire Danny Amendola led the Rams in receiving in 2010, but is coming off a serious elbow injury, while his "Second Round" restricted free agent tender (worth $1.927 million) is non-guaranteed. The Rams signed Steve Smith, one of the premier slot receivers in the NFL before a serious knee injury in 2010, to a one-year contract that included $2.125 million in guaranteed money. Smith is a bit more versatile than Amendola in that he can play on the perimeter, but it remains to be seen if he can remain healthy over a 16-game season.

• Last year's fourth-round pick Greg Salas posted big numbers out of the slot at Hawaii and was having a promising rookie season before suffering a broken leg midway through the season. Injuries to Amendola and Salas is what got 2011 third-round selection Austin Pettis on the field as a rookie. Pettis' performance is why the Rams invested so heavily in the wide receiver position again this April. Brandon Gibson currently sits atop the depth chart, but he's a player the current coaching staff and front office inherited, has a seven-figure salary ($1 million) and can be released with no cap implications. The new regime also inherited Danario Alexander, who is a game-changing deep threat when healthy, which he rarely is.

Projected Winner(s): Quick and Givens we've addressed, and we'll bring Amendola into the season because he's shown he can produce from the slot. Same goes for Smith, who can also play on the outside. Salas showed promise as a rookie (averaging 8.1 yards after the catch) and is making the league minimum, so he's worth keeping. Pettis is suspended for the first two games, and he has talent, so why release him at the end of training camp? Given the injuries the Rams had at the position last year, they may need him by Week 3.

 

[kurtfaulk]

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wow, $2.1m guarenteed money to smith. the rams must be confident he can stay healthy and will be a big part of the offense.

camp battles will be interesting to see who will get the most playng time. the 3 locks are quick, givens and smith. you'd think amendola will stick around for one more year and salas will showcase the talent to hopefully become a starter. fisher likes playmakers so dax is a good as staying. that leaves petttis and gibson.

as the article suggests, no decision has to made on pettis until after week 2.

gibson, see ya later.

in all likelyhood one of the wrs will get some sort of injury before week 2 so pettis is likely to be on the team. it would be a shame to cut either dax or pettis. i don't agree with the article in regards to pettis' play last season. i thought he went ok for a rookie in a complex offense without the benefit of any OTAs or training camp.

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[libertadrocks]

If you're going to go onto the NFL Network and question our receiving corps as an 'expert', at least know who we drafted. We drafted BQ not AJ Jenkins. Come on man

 

[Yamahopper]

If Smith can stay healthy and his knee injury hasn't inhibited his play it sounds like the top 5 are pretty well set. So it comes down to the 6th WR pos. which may be decided on who can contribute the most on SP. teams. Unless were running a lot of spread formations the last WR isn't going to get a ton of balls. He might not even dress against some teams. So to me it's interesting but no big deal.

The one thing that might favor one player over another also is which position in the WR group that he can back up.
Pettis I think will take a step forward this year, but not sure if it will be enough. IMO he's kind of limited in what routes he can run and how much yac he can get. He's a roll player. That's not to say he can't be a plus player over the middle and redzone. He's proved he can take a hit and hold on to the ball.