Austin Davis was never the answer in St. Louis

As bad as the quarterback play in St. Louis has been this season, let’s get one thing clear, Austin Davis was never going to take this team to the promised land, and Cleveland is about to find that out as well.

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There been plenty of talk around the St. Louis Rams community that Davis got a bad deal when he was ousted from St. Louis without so much as a shot at becoming the back up quarterback. However, after starting eight games for the Rams last year, it was obvious Davis was never a long-term answer for the team. Davis had his moments, but overall, struggled under center.

After Davis stepped in on Monday Night Football in place of the injured Josh McCown there was plenty of teethe grinding going on in St. Louis. Davis lead the Browns on a touchdown drive to tie the game and another drive to attempt the game winning field goal. Davis finished 7 of 10 for 77-yards and a touchdown.

Aug 29, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams quarterback Austin Davis (9) looks to pass the ball during a football game against the Indianapolis Colts at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s be honest though. Davis is not going to spur the Cleveland offense to a five-game winning streak, nor was he ever going to lead the St. Louis Rams to the postseason. So while his short term success provides plenty of griping fans, it will all be for naught.

In his four-year career Davis has thrown for just over 2,000 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The definition of mediocrity. The quarterback position is extremely important in today’s NFL. If St. Louis wants to get better in hurry, they can’t have below-average play at the quarterback position. Which, even without Davis, is what they have now.

For the sake of argument though, let’s play it all out.

The best-case scenario would have been the Rams keeping Davis back in the training camp. He somehow beats out Nick Foles for the starting job and it’s his team to command starting Week 1. Now let’s really get crazy and say he leads the team to the 10 wins they would appear to need this year to have a shot at the postseason as a Wild Card team.

Based on the talent and play of this year’s top playoff teams it’s extremely doubtful Davis would have made it past the first-round, but maybe he gets lucky and gets the road win. However, the Super Bowl is still well out of reach due to terrible inefficiencies on offense.

The Result: Rams make the playoffs, but now have a pointless QB controversy between Davis and Foles because of the price the team paid for Foles (how could you sit a guy you traded a former #1 overall pick for!) and they now lack the high draft pick they truly needed to help on offense.

The worst-case scenario plays out very much like this season has gone except you can swap Foles name with Davis’. The team struggles regardless of who’s under center. The offensive line allows just about anybody through and the wide receivers have dropped about as many balls as they have caught. The Rams win less than five games and end up with a top ten draft pick in 2016.

The Result: Davis ends up getting cut in the spring of 2016 as the odd man out when the Rams roll the dice on another high draft pick QB. St. Louis is left with Foles and their rookie to battle it out and your 2016 starter is….Nick Foles.

While Davis’ 77-yards and a touchdown in a matter of minutes was enticing considering the product the Rams have trotted out at the QB position this year, it’s all just a farce. Davis will return to his middling form because that’s what the numbers say he is.

So Rams fans can all let out a big sigh of relief. When the team let Davis walk five months ago it wasn’t the second coming of John Elway leaving, it was Austin Davis leaving, and it always will be.

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Austin Davis was never the answer in St. Louis, and he won’t be in Cleveland either

By Michael Condon | Dec 3, 2015