If you had trouble naming a Los Angeles Rams wide receiver outside of Tavon Austin, you’ll really need to take some notes this year. As the Rams begin their preseason work with 14 wideouts on the roster and five tight ends. Good thing for now, at least, the Rams have four quarterbacks to throw them the ball.
Obviously not all those guys will make the team as they cut down to the final 53. Last year when the season began the Rams kept just six wide receivers and three tight ends. With Jared Goff being a rookie, I’d expect they could keep at least one extra guy on each squad, especially with how their draft went down. If you add in the fact that you don’t take Goff if you don’t plan on opening up the offense, it makes no sense to limit your options too much at wide receiver when you don’t have a proven No. 1 on the roster.
We know what’s going to happen with one of the 14 wideouts before we even start. Stedman Bailey is still recovering from two gunshot wounds to the head he suffered last season on a drive-by shooting. It’s a miracle he’s alive at all and he’s fighting to come back from it and play again. That won’t be this season and he’ll likely spend all of 2016 on the Non-Football Injury List. That leaves us with 13 wideouts for seven possible spots.
Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt, Pharoh Cooper and Mike Thomas will all make the final roster, barring injuries or total preseason meltdowns. Cooper and Thomas are both draft picks so they’ll make the team. Cooper will probably be the starter in the slot. So that leaves nine guys fighting for three spots. Who’ll get the call?
Brian Quick is an easy choice. He re-signed with the Rams this offseason on a one-year deal. The former second round pick was on the verge of a break-out season two years ago before injuries ended his season early. He struggled to get healthy and into the rotation last year and ended up just catching 10 passes in 13 games. The Rams didn’t cut bait with Quick yet, but if he doesn’t show up immediately in practice and on the field, he’ll be on the street.
The best prospect of the remaining group is Duke Williams out of Auburn without question. In 2014 he caught 45 passes for 730 yards and five touchdowns in an offense that doesn’t make playing wide receiver well a priority. Williams was considered a first-round pick last preseason but his off-the-field issues cost him. The Rams gave him a try-out and signed him as a street free agent in what had to be the biggest no-brainer decision of the offseason.
So of the remaining guys who makes it? Nelson Spruce out of Colorado, talent-wise, looks like the best fit. He’s 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds and surpassed 1,000 yards for his last two seasons. He’s averaged over 11 yards per catch. The guy in his way is probably Bradley Marquez, who made the cut last year and actually made it into some games as the Rams’ wide receiver corps dwindled with injuries and shootings. The coaches know him and trusted him enough to keep him for another season. That’s always going to be a tough guy to beat out. But Spruce looks like the next Wes Welker or Julian Edelman to me. Both those guys went undrafted too.
All the other wideouts will be available for the practice squad and that’s where I think Marquez North, Paul McRoberts and whoever loses the Spruce/Bradley Marquez battle will probably end up. Kain Colter, Deon Long and J.J. Worton will all probably be unemployed and we’ll see their sad cut montage on this year’s Hard Knocks.
Tight end is a significantly easier call. If the Rams just keep three, it’ll be Lance Kendricks, Tyler Higbee and Temarrick Hemingway. If they keep four, it’ll probably mean Cory Harkey gets to stay on the team and I hope he does. Justice Cunningham will be looking for work, but if he follows the path of pretty much every other Rams tight end that walked over the last few years, he’ll end up getting signed by a playoff team.
