St. Louis Rams Closing Evaluations: What Grades Do the Quarterbacks Receive?

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Austin Davis: It’s amazing to think that for a short period of time, there were plenty of Rams fans who believed that Austin Davis was going to be the next Kurt Warner. While Davis wasn’t brutal, it became clear over his eight-game stint as the Rams’ starting quarterback that he’s not going to be a long-term starter in the NFL.

Davis, who took over for Shaun Hill in Week 1 following an injury to the grizzled veteran, got off to a great start, completing 72.3 percent of his passes over the first three weeks and leading the Rams to a Week 2 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While we probably should have become suspicious of his viability as a starter following two costly interceptions in the fourth quarter of the Rams’ Week 3 loss to the Cowboys, the Rams decided to stick with him even after Hill returned from his injury.

Make no mistake, Davis had some great moments as the Rams’ starting quarterback. He went an impressive 17-for-20 against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7 to help pace the Rams to a 28-26 victory over the defending Super Bowl champs. His overall numbers were pretty solid: he completed 63.4 percent of his passes for 2,001 yards, 12 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

Ultimately, though, the manner in which those interceptions occurred was too serious to ignore. Following two interceptions in the Rams’ victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Davis had another bad performance on November 9 in Arizona, when he threw two interceptions to Patrick Peterson, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and later fumbled while being sacked, which resulted in Antonio Cromartie returning it for a touchdown.

That sparked Davis’s benching, and there’s a very good chance that despite his good moments, it will be the last we see of the former undrafted free agent as a starter in the NFL.

FINAL GRADE: C-

Next: The Castoffs (Case Keenum, Garrett Gilbert)