St. Louis Rams Closing Evaluations: What Grades Do the Quarterbacks Receive?
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The Rams had no success in developing for the future at the quarterback position during 2014. Rookie sixth-rounder Garrett Gilbert, who was projected to make the team as the third-stringer and develop for a possible future as a backup, ultimately was released in the final cutdown and ended up on the practice squad before being released in late October.
Case Keenum, who was the Houston Texans’ starter for the latter part of 2013, ended up in St. Louis after being released by Houston at the end of the preseason. Though Keenum seemed to be a possible starting candidate at the time, he was pretty much pushed to the side after Austin Davis began experiencing success, and he ended up being active for just one game as a Ram. Keenum was demoted to the practice squad at the end of October, and in an ironic twist of fate, he was re-acquired by the Texans in mid-December and immediately cast back into their starting role.
Due to their failure in developing either Keenum or Gilbert even into a candidate to be a long-term backup option, the Rams will likely be searching for a quarterback in this year’s draft, and they’ll have to hope that they have better luck bringing that player along than they did with their young quarterbacks in 2014.