Brian Quick To Start Training Camp As Number Four Receiver

When the Rams drafted Brian Quick in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, everyone was excited about the kid’s potential, comparing him to Terrell Owens and Vincent Jackson. Quick had a lot of developing to do, but the ceiling for him was high. Quick had a tough rookie season getting up to speed but made some big plays, showing what he was capable of. It was expected that Quick would come in this year ready to go and be the number two receiver, and be the guy playing across from Chris Givens like Snead envisioned when he drafted both players. However with Pettis having the spectacular offseason that he has had up to this point it looks like it will be Pettis and not Quick playing across from Givens.

According to Brian Schottenheimer, Austin Pettis has had the best camp of all the skill players as of now. Schottenheimer also said that Quick has stepped up this year and is doing a lot better. By the looks of it, it’s not necessarily what Brian Quick hasn’t done that’s keeping him from the number two spot, but what Austin Pettis has done to earn the number two spot.  The Rams will enter training camp with Austin Pettis and Chris Givens as the outside receivers with first round pick, Tavon Austin, lined up in the slot.

Austin Pettis has been proven to be reliable in big situations and be a red zone threat. However, he only had 8.7 yards per reception last season which is one of the worst in the league. If Pettis can get that stat up he could serious threat in the offense. After being almost non existent in the first year and a half of his career, Pettis got more opportunities toward the end of last season and took advantage of them. It seems like Pettis has came out of nowhere and by the looks of it he could steal the number two spot. Everyone thought if anyone was going to beat out Brian Quick it would be Bailey, not Pettis to do it, but Pettis has finally seemed to figure it out and is up to speed. The second year in the same offense is going to help him as much as it is going to help Bradford. There is still a lot of offseason left, but if Pettis continues to perform at this level, he may just surprise a lot of people.

Is it time to label Brian Quick a bust yet? Fortunately not quite yet, but we are getting close. If Brian Quick still creates mismatches on the outside with his size and strength. It seems like Brian Quick has improved from last season, but it doesn’t look to be enough. If Quick isn’t careful Stedman Bailey could surpass him and Quick could find himself as the fifth guy barely making the roster fighting for his job everyday. Luckily for Brian Quick there is still a lot of training camp left to impress the coaches and prove that he shouldn’t be ruled out of the equation just yet.

The wide receiver battle in training camp will definitely be one of the more interesting battles in camp. It is pretty much known who the top five guys are going to be, its just a question of who is going to be the other guy on the outside and which two players will be depth guys. Even if Pettis does surprise and beat out Brian Quick, Quick will still get his share of plays, same goes for Stedman Bailey. The Rams have liked to use a committee approach to many different positions, and it looks like the wide receiver position will be no different. Training camp will resume in late July and then the battles to see who will win out at their positions will finally begin.