Wide receiver is always the most flashy position in football. Right now, arguably the most popular player in the league is a WR. As we move into the Rams training camp season we start to think about the obvious position battle, Wide receiver. That is why we have decided to put together a list of the last ten years at the position and what the battles looked like going into camp.
2007
Torry Holt
Isaac Bruce
Drew Bennett
Dane Looker
Derek Stanley
Marques Hagans
Shaine Smith
Dominique Thompson
Fred Gibson
Overview: The last year Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt were together in St. Louis. The Rams knew the time was nearly up for the once superstar duo so they decided to go out and sign 28-year old WR Drew Bennett to a 6-year $30 million deal. Going into camp the Rams looked good at WR for a year, but instead it became the a dominant year of Holt, a solid year for Bruce and an extremely disappointing campaign for highly touted free agency acquisition Bennett.
2008
Torry Holt
Donnie Avery
Drew Bennett
Keenan Burton
Dane Looker
Derek Stanley
Dante Hall
Reche Caldwell
Marques Hagans
Matt Caddell
Brandon Williams
Overview: Just as expected, Isaac Bruce left and the Rams decided to draft Houston track star WR Donnie Avery in the second round of the draft. This would end up being Torry Holt’s last year as a Ram and the organization viewed Avery as the future along with fellow rookie Keenan Burton. Even Marques Hagans looked primed to make an impact after some flashes in preseason, but this position group of course was banking on Drew Bennett’s bounce back year that never ended up happening…
2009
Donnie Avery
Brandon Gibson
Keenan Burton
Laurent Robinson
Jordan Kent
Ruvell Martin
Brooks Foster
Sean Walker
Ronald Curry
Tim Carter
Derek Stanley
Nate Jones
Overview: With Torry Holt bolting to Jacksonville, the Rams officially made Donnie Avery the number one receiver. Clearly though, the team was missing firepower at the receiver position which they later addressed after preseason in signing Danny Amendola off the Eagles practice squad. The emergence of Brandon Gibson helped, but make no mistake this was a year Keenan Burton was supposed to take off and he was a complete non-factor.
2010
Danny Amendola
Brandon Gibson
Donnie Avery
Danario Alexander
Mardy Gilyard
Laurent Robinson
Keenan Burton
Jordan Kent
Dominique Curry
Brandon McRae
Overview: What is most interesting about this season was that the Rams had finally left the Marc Bulger era and gone onto the Sam Bradford era. In preseason unfortunately Bradford lost his number one receiver Donnie Avery to an ACL injury that would his season and his time with the Rams. Luckily, Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson and even UDFA Danario Alexander bubbled to the top to bail out Bradford. Still, the Rams didn’t feel they had enough, especially with rookie Mardy Gilyard showing serious struggles with the playbook and so they ended up acquiring WR Mark Clayton from the Ravens right before opening day.
2011
Mike Sims-Walker
Danario Alexander
Danny Amendola
Mark Clayton
Donnie Avery
Brandon Gibson
Mardy Gilyard
Dominique Curry
Greg Salas
Austin Pettis
Andrew Hawkins
Joe West
Overview: The Rams ended up drafting more WR’s this year in Austin Pettis and Greg Salas, nether did anything, but were given opportunities in camp. To add more to the pool of talent the Rams signed Jaguars standout WR Mike Sims-Walker. This was considered the year of the injury for the Rams which was a shame because Danny Amendola and Danario Alexander were looking like a nice duo.
2012
Steve Smith
Danny Amendola
Brandon Gibson
Brian Quick
Chris Givens
Austin Pettis
Danario Alexander
Michael Campbell
Nick Johnson
Greg Salas
Overview: If you didn’t notice the pattern of the Rams signing that standout free agent WR well, it happened again in 2012. This time it was former Pro Bowler Steve Smith from the Giants. Smith didn’t work out for the Rams, however, their rookie out of Wake Forest Chris Givens did. Him and the duo of Brandon Gibson and Danny Amendola. Danario Alexander ended up being bothered by lingering injuries that forced his way out of the organization only to explode at the second half of the year in San Diego.
2013
Chris Givens
Stedman Bailey
Tavon Austin
Brian Quick
Raymond Radway
Justin Veltung
Nick Johnson
Andrew Helmick
Emory Blake
Overview: Once again the Rams drafted another batch of wide receivers. This time they even decided to trade up to No.8 overall in the draft to select Tavon Austin. The Rams didn’t stop there and ended up double dipping on West Virginia WR’s with Stedman Bailey in the third round. Brian Quick who was the second round pick the year before received a minimally larger role. Austin Pettis started to pick up the pace a little, but it was all Tavon and Givens for the most part.
2014
Tavon Austin
Stedman Bailey
Kenny Britt
Chris Givens
Austin Pettis
Brian Quick
Austin Franklin
Emory Blake
T.J. Moe
Jordan Harris
Overview: Once again, the Rams continued their hot trend of signing hopeful talents at wide receiver. In this free agency period it was the signing of former Fisher guy Kenny Britt. Britt was the only free agent acquisition at wide receiver to truly work and it happened almost instantly. With Sam Bradford going down in preseason it was Austin Davis and Shaun Hill in charge of the offense. Tavon struggled mightily after high expectations and his teammate Stedman Bailey started to pick up the pace. This was also the year Brian Quick looked to make significant strides but an unfortunate injury in Kansas City ended his season.
2015
Tavon Austin
Kenny Britt
Stedman Bailey
Chris Givens
Bradley Marquez
Brian Quick
Isiah Ferguson
Emory Blake
Tyler Slavin
Daniel Rodriguez
Damian Williams
Overview: The passing game took a hit big time in 2015. Kenny Britt was still the obvious No.1 guy, but you could make the argument Tavon Austin was the best weapon due to his almost 1,000 yards from scrimmage. Going into this training camp battle it seemed like many didn’t give UDFA Bradley Marquez a chance to make the squad. Well, he made it.
2016
Kenny Britt
Brian Quick
Tavon Austin
Pharoh Cooper
Bradley Marquez
Mike Thomas
Nelson Spruce
Paul McRoberts
Duke Williams
Austin Hill
David Richards
Marquez North
Deon Long
J.J. Worton
Overview: This was likely the first real full-on WR battle in camp that was worth talking about. The Rams had their guys like Pharoh Cooper and Mike Thomas who were shoe-ins to make the roster. However, no one could have foreseen the emergence of Nelson Spruce in week one of the preseason. The most talked about storyline was who is going to sneak onto the roster at WR between the likes of Spruce, Duke Williams, Paul McRoberts and Marquez North. It turns out McRoberts would end up finding the field towards the end of the season as a full-year member of the practice squad, Spruce, who made the roster would not play a game after his performance week one of preseason, Duke Williams wouldn’t get another look again and North would end up landing on season-ending IR that would allow him to come back and compete next season.
2017
Tavon Austin
Robert Woods
Cooper Kupp
Pharoh Cooper
Nelson Spruce
Josh Reynolds
Bradley Marquez
Paul McRoberts
Brandon Shippen
Shakeir Ryan
Mike Thomas
I think it’s safe to say there has been some interesting names over the years, but this is the best and likely the most competitive Rams receiver battle we have seen. Tavon Austin comes back as the oldest WR of the bunch, but there is plenty of newcomers around him including the one pictured above Cooper Kupp. The Rams made their usual high-profile or not high-profile signing of Robert Woods in free agency. With a new regime in play no one is truly guaranteed any specific role which is why this group in itself is going to be the hardest to predict come cut day.
After looking through the last ten years what season would you give the edge to best camp battle? Let us know!
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