St. Louis Rams Post-Game Roundtable: Disaster Strikes in Cleveland!

3. One of the most immediate impacts of losing Sam Bradford for the season is certainly the development of the young receiving corps. In 2010, however, Shaun Hill was able to get the ball to fourth-year receiver Calvin Johnson, and second-year tight end Brandon Pettigrew during the 10 games he started. Do you believe that Hill can take full advantage of the likes of Brian Quick, Kenny Britt, Chris Givens, Tavon Austin, Jared Cook, etc., and help them take the next step(s) we were all expecting entering the preseason?

Aug 23, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver Chris Givens (13) makes a reception against Cleveland Browns cornerback Justin Gilbert (21) during the second quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports

Blaine G.: It seems like he has good chemistry with the receivers and given that he is a veteran guy he is going to be able to teach the young guys what they need to do on certain plays. This team is a run-first team, though, and that will be even more emphasized now that Bradford’s done for the year, but there is no doubt that I think he will be able to teach/help the young guys like Tavon Austin, Brian Quick, and Stedman Bailey.

Anthony K.: That was certainly one of the first things that came to my mind when I learned that Bradford would indeed be out for the season, so I went back again and looked at Calvin Johnson‘s receiving statistics in the 10 games that Hill started in 2010, and I was very pleasantly surprised. Johnson played in 9 of those 10 games, and in those 9 games, he had a touchdown or 100 yards receiving (or both) in all but two games, and altogether, he caught 8 touchdowns from Hill. Keep in mind that Megatron was already getting double and triple covered at the time.

Brandon Pettigrew ended up with 722 receiving yards and 4 TDs in 2010–Hill threw two of those touchdowns to Pettigrew, and accounted for his five biggest receiving games, in terms of receiving yardage.

In other words, Hill can get the ball down-field, in the end-zone, and to big targets. So all of the Rams receivers should expect to have just as big of a season, collectively, as they would have had with Bradford under center. I fully anticipate the younger guys like Austin, Quick, Chris Givens, and Stedman Bailey too (once he returns from suspension), to take the next step!

Mark W.: Absolutely, that’s one of the reasons the Rams are so lucky to have Hill under center. He’s done this before with relative success. He can fit the ball into tight windows and has the chops to stand in the pocket and deliver to his receivers. Hill has a career completion percentage of nearly 62 percent, and he has almost twice as many touchdowns as interceptions (41 TDs/23 INTs).