[TSFH Fan]

Fisher names Keenum as Rams' No. 2 quarterback
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... 91f91.html
By Joe Lyons

When asked about the quarterback position heading into the fourth and final preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said the competition is for the No. 3 spot.

Fisher said that Case Keenum, a fourth-year pro, would back up starter Nick Foles and that Austin Davis and rookie Sean Mannion were battling for the final spot.

“I think Case has the advantage right now,'' Fisher said following practice earlier this week at Rams Park. “I would say the competition would be related to the third spot, with Austin and Sean. So we're going to try and get them both reps in the game. But I think that Case has done a good enough job right now at this point that he's got the No. 2 locked up.''

After a record-setting career at the University of Houston, Keenum was signed as an undrafted free agent by the hometown Texans and spent the 2012 season on their practice squad. In 2013, he was winless in eight starts with Houston, completing 54.2 percent of his passes for 1,760 yards. He had nine touchdowns and six interceptions.

He was cut at the end of training camp a year ago and picked up on waivers by the Rams. In St. Louis, he was active for just one of the first seven games before being moved to the practice squad.

After re-signing with the Texans, he led Houston to late December wins over Baltimore and Jacksonville. He completed 58.4 percent of his passes for 435 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

He was re-acquired by the Rams in March in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in 2015.

Obviously, Fisher and Co. like what they've seen.

“He just has a good feel for our offense and timing and release and is a natural athlete,'' Fisher said. “Since the trade, he's been able to set here and really grasp the offense, so he's got a good feel for what we're doing.''

In the preseason, Keenum has completed 20 of 34 passes (58.8 percent) for 255 yards. He hooked up with Chris Givens on an 80-yard bomb for the Rams' first preseason TD and has no interceptions.

Davis, a third-year pro who won three games and had a pair of 300-plus yard passing games in eight starts with the Rams a year ago, has completed three of five passes for 52 yards in the preseason.

Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2012, had a short stint on the Miami Dolphins' practice squad in 2013 but has spent the majority of his career as a backup in St. Louis.

In 10 games last year, he completed 63.4 percent of his passes for 2,001 yards, with 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He led the team to wins at Tampa Bay, against Seattle and at San Francisco and topped the 300-yard passing mark in road losses to Dallas (327) and Philadelphia (375).

Mannion, a third-round draft pick in May, has thrown 33 passes and completed 20 (60.6 percent) for 193 yards in the preseason. He has one touchdown pass and one interception.

[Rams the Legends live on]

I hope this is the first year in sometime now we don't get a chance at all to see how our 2nd or 3rd string QB's play in a regular season game.

[dieterbrock]

Fisher basically handed Davis the backup job in 2013 coming off 2012 and he was so bad in pre-season that he ended up losing the job to Kellen Clemens. And Clemens was not exactly very good that pre-season either
So last year, Davis had little chance of making the team until Sam blew out the knee again. Even when Davis was playing well, Fisher had a hard time supporting him. So needless to say, I think Fish has been looking for a reason to cut ties and Keenum sure looks to have given him that

[moklerman]

Fisher basically handed Davis the backup job in 2013 coming off 2012 and he was so bad in pre-season that he ended up losing the job to Kellen Clemens. And Clemens was not exactly very good that pre-season either
So last year, Davis had little chance of making the team until Sam blew out the knee again. Even when Davis was playing well, Fisher had a hard time supporting him. So needless to say, I think Fish has been looking for a reason to cut ties and Keenum sure looks to have given him that

I don't think there's any question about that, what I want to know is why there's any "competition" at all? Davis was only given a grand total of 5 pass attempts in 3 preseason games this year.

He's not Fisher's guy, that's okay. Stringing him along seems pretty classless though. With all the teams that need a QB, Davis MIGHT have had a chance somewhere else. He had no chance with the Rams.

They traded for Foles, traded for Keenum, drafted Mannion relatively early and apparently had no intention of letting Davis compete for any of the three spots.

[dieterbrock]

Fisher basically handed Davis the backup job in 2013 coming off 2012 and he was so bad in pre-season that he ended up losing the job to Kellen Clemens. And Clemens was not exactly very good that pre-season either
So last year, Davis had little chance of making the team until Sam blew out the knee again. Even when Davis was playing well, Fisher had a hard time supporting him. So needless to say, I think Fish has been looking for a reason to cut ties and Keenum sure looks to have given him that

I don't think there's any question about that, what I want to know is why there's any "competition" at all? Davis was only given a grand total of 5 pass attempts in 3 preseason games this year.

He's not Fisher's guy, that's okay. Stringing him along seems pretty classless though. With all the teams that need a QB, Davis MIGHT have had a chance somewhere else. He had no chance with the Rams.

They traded for Foles, traded for Keenum, drafted Mannion relatively early and apparently had no intention of letting Davis compete for any of the three spots.

Classless? I dont know about that, its business.
Foles has a slight injury history himself so I dont see any issue with making sure he gets thru pre-season unscathed. And Keenum? Never threw a pass in a Rams uni so there was no guarantee he would play as well as he did.
I dont know what happens behind the scenes but its entirely possible he played poorly in TC and didnt earn more PT
Also consider, Davis still has a roster spot on an NFL team, and as an RFA he did have his options
The best thing the Rams can do for him is to let him play a solid half and showcase his skills. If he looks good, and gets cut, he still has a shot to land with somebody.
Davis owes Fisher (and Bradford's knee) more than the Rams owe him. They gave him the shot when nobody else wanted to draft him, and the 2nd chance when he was coaching pe wee ball because he couldnt get a gig anywhere else

[moklerman]

I didn't say the Rams had treated him poorly every step of the way, but I think it was pretty clear he wasn't in their plans for this year. You're right, Keenum might have been terrible but realistically, Davis never had a shot and I think the Rams knew it. Should have cut him loose. With what he did last year he would have got an offer SOMEwhere. Now's he's going to be on the streets right before the season starts and at best, sign with a team where he'll have no prep time or familiarity.

Like I said, 5 pass attempts in 3 preseason games means they gave him no real shot at a roster spot.

[dieterbrock]

I didn't say the Rams had treated him poorly every step of the way, but I think it was pretty clear he wasn't in their plans for this year. You're right, Keenum might have been terrible but realistically, Davis never had a shot and I think the Rams knew it. Should have cut him loose. With what he did last year he would have got an offer SOMEwhere. Now's he's going to be on the streets right before the season starts and at best, sign with a team where he'll have no prep time or familiarity.

Like I said, 5 pass attempts in 3 preseason games means they gave him no real shot at a roster spot.

He was a restricted FA QB with the lowest tender possible. Any team could have signed him and wouldnt have had to compensate the Rams. So if there was any demand for his services, he could have gone elsewhere. When he signed his tender, the Rams had already traded for Foles and Keenum so the writing was on the wall.
He'll get his PT this week.
The way I see it is they clearly moved on from him, but since nobody wanted him they gave him a locker for the summer and a shot. No matter how long of a shot it was. Clearly the priority was getting Foles feet wet, getting Keenum quality snaps and seeing what they had in Mannion. I dont see why showcasing Davis for other teams should usurp that

[moklerman]

The way I see it is they clearly moved on from him, but since nobody wanted him they gave him a locker for the summer and a shot. No matter how long of a shot it was. Clearly the priority was getting Foles feet wet, getting Keenum quality snaps and seeing what they had in Mannion. I dont see why showcasing Davis for other teams should usurp that

So, not only are they not at fault, they're altruistic? C'mon. No one suggested showcasing him during the preseason so that's moot. You agree that it's clear they weren't going to give him a shot and that's my whole point. The right thing to do was to cut him loose and let him see what happens.

You could be right, he may have been happy to be just a camp arm but I kind of doubt anyone's "happy" with that.

[dieterbrock]

The way I see it is they clearly moved on from him, but since nobody wanted him they gave him a locker for the summer and a shot. No matter how long of a shot it was. Clearly the priority was getting Foles feet wet, getting Keenum quality snaps and seeing what they had in Mannion. I dont see why showcasing Davis for other teams should usurp that

So, not only are they not at fault, they're altruistic? C'mon. No one suggested showcasing him during the preseason so that's moot. You agree that it's clear they weren't going to give him a shot and that's my whole point. The right thing to do was to cut him loose and let him see what happens.

You could be right, he may have been happy to be just a camp arm but I kind of doubt anyone's "happy" with that.

He was cut loose, and nobody wanted him. Not sure why you dont see that. He didnt have to sign the tender, but he had nowhere else to go

[Hacksaw]

There is plenty of tape on Davis playing in regular season games. I doubt his phone was or would have been ringing off the hook no matter what the Rams did or didn't do. Didn't Davis have the choice to go elsewhere after all of those Rams off season moves at his position?