Jeff Fisher has named his starting quarterback for the remainder of the season.
Instead of going with veteran Shaun Hill, Fisher has decided to stick with the QB that currently is leading the NFL in completion percentage: Austin Davis.
Davis, since filling in for Hill during week 1, has played very strong, and overall, the offense of the Rams has seemed to move a lot more fluently. The offense is also able to sustain and build long drives down the field.
The situation is a turn of events, considering in the past, Fisher had stated numerous times that once Hill returned from his quad injury, he would resume his starting role. That plan, however, has changed and the Rams are moving forward with the young Davis, who through four weeks, has gone 68 for 94, 754 yards, three TD’s and three INT’s, with a completion percentage of 72.3%.
The Rams have gone 1-2 to start the season (they had a bye week during week four). Those three games consisted of an embarrassing lose to the Vikings, a close win at Tampa Bay, and a heartbreaking defeat at home against Dallas, in which Davis, Zac Stacy, and the rest of the offense were able to go up 21-0 on the Cowboys.
St. Louis started the season with Sam Bradford once again at QB, hoping he’d finally help end the team’s decade-plus long playoff drought. In week three of the preseason, he re-tore his ACL that was previously torn vs the Panthers last season.
Hill, a 12-year veteran and the oldest player on the team, was given the starting role after the injury, and, despite the high praise given from many to him, he struggled during the 34-6 loss to Minnesota. Davis was eventually brought in after an injury to Hill occurred during the first half of the week 1 loss.
This is where the schedule begins to get tougher for the Rams. This week they face off against the Eagles, followed by a match-up against the struggling San Francisco 49ers.
“It’s our first challenge against a 3-4 defense. They’re really good,” said Davis, when asked about facing Chip Kelly‘s Philadelphia Eagles this week, who incidentally, lost to the 49ers last week.
As for the Rams’ defense, it’s safe to say they have under-performed well below expectations. Losing Chris Long for eight weeks doesn’t help much.
But the offense has been able to provide a spark to the young team, something not many expected coming into the season, and one can only imagine how well the team can do overall if the defense improves starting this week.
Austin Davis has proven he can be a good QB. And he knows the Rams’ offensive system well, being a part of it for quite awhile. There is nothing wrong giving the young guy the starting role for the remainder of the season, and seeing where the team ends up.
