Generally when you lose your two top receivers (Brandon Gibson and Danny Amendola) to free agency, and your longest tenured wideout is the underperforming Austin Pettis who is only entering his third year in the NFL, things should look pretty bleak. Fortunately, in the Rams’ case, their receiver corps looks primed to have an exceptional year.

Chris Givens

Coming into 2012, Chris Givens was a speedy fourth round pick with relatively low expectations compared to the rest of the draft class. He was a raw, small school unpolished project for the Rams at the time. Nobody paid him much attention until he goes and catches a 52-yard bomb in week four against the Seattle Seahawks. Then the next week he caught a 51-yard touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals. He ended up having a five game stretch of catching a pass of at least 50 yards. Later in the season against the 49ers, Givens proved that he was more than just a deep threat by effectively filling in for the injured Danny Amendola’s in the slot and had some beautiful go-routes. So far in the preseason, Givens has impressed. At this point it’s just expected. It seems now that Bradford is going to drop two or three bombs to Givens every game. Givens is still raw, but already looks to start the season as our number one wideout. He is electric on the field and is a constant touchdown threat.

Austin Pettis

The only receiver still on the roster from the Billy Devaney/Steve Spagnuolo era looks to improve even more this year. Although he will likely never reach his third round draft status, Pettis is still a valuable slot receiver and a solid red zone threat. He has his place in this offense, and that is mainly to move the chains.

This guys has hands though

Brian Quick

Fisher reached for Quick in the second round last year. He has the potential, talent and size to become an elite receiver in the NFL. Unfortunately, after hyping him up all offseason, he never seemed to be able to earn enough playing time to do anything worth talking about. His slow start has been attributed to his tough time learning the playbook and adjusting to the big leagues. Progress has been made this offseason though. Fisher has talked about Quick looking less and less lost every day. Apart from a fumble, Quick has also had an solid preseason.

Video recap of Brian Quick’s Targets and Catches in 2012 via @TurfShowTimes

Tavon Austin

Tavon Austin is easily the most talked about Ram in St. Louis. We traded up with Buffalo to snag him before the Jets with the number eight pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. One can see why because in his senior season he racked up 2,910 all purpose yards and 17 touchdowns with an average of 224 yards per game! Watching the tape on this guy at University of West Virginia shows that this guy is able outrun just about anybody. Everything from college seems to be transferring very well to the NFL as well. So far in the preseason, Austin has had some solid catches to go along with his 81-yard punt return. This guy is going to be good, count on that.

Stedman Bailey

While Tavon Austin had the season of a lifetime, his best friend and WVU teammate Stedman Bailey quietly had himself a great year, scoring 25 touchdowns. He hasn’t had much attention since the draft, but his few preseason catches looked good. I don’t expect him to be a huge contributor right off the bat, but down the road, he has the potential to become an excellent receiving option.

Rams week: Receiver breakdown

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