It’s safe to say that the wide receivers corps of the St. Louis Rams performed well under expectations during the course of the 2015 season. Having a serious issue at the quarterback position also did not make things any easier for them.
Each wide receiver had varying levels of success (or lack of success) throughout the season, and it’s time to take a look at them all and see how they performed. One brief mention will go to Chris Givens, who had minimal production for the Rams before being trading to the Baltimore Ravens, where, even with a quarterback issue there, he still managed to perform better than in St. Louis.
Kenny Britt led the Rams in receiving yards in 2015, with 681 total yards. He caught only 36 passes however, and still struggled to be a consistent route runner, a problem that also affected him during his first year with the Rams in 2014. He also had a yards-per-reception average of 18.9 yards, and caught three touchdowns. When it came to downfield routes, Britt was the most heavily used wide-receiver.
But when it came to usage behind the line of scrimmage, the most heavily used wide receiver was Tavon Austin. In addition to his 52 carries for 434 yards and touchdowns as a running back, he also caught 52 passes for 473 yards and five touchdowns. The issue when it came to using Austin was his lack of catches in the open field downfield, as the majority of his receptions were screen passes. When used properly, Austin can be a major play-maker, but without some variety, opponents will know how to stop him.
As for the other wide receivers, they did not live up to expectations. Stedman Bailey had his season shortened both to suspension as well as a serious incident where he suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Brian Quick also had a slew of injuries throughout the season. Veteran free agent acquisition Wes Welker caught 13 passes for 102 when he signed more than halfway into the season, but he didn’t help the Rams’ porous third-down conversion issues.
Bradley Marquez showed promise while being a slot receiver, but as with most of the other wide receivers, did not play much of a factor. Overall, the majority of the wide receivers (sans Britt and Austin) failed to live up to expectation.
Grade: D+
(Photo Credit: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
