Gordon: Persistent Davis lingers as Rams QB
• By Jeff Gordon
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_1aa59132-b56c-5101-8151-0fd22bff29c7.html
Many Rams fans have seen enough of Austin Davis to anoint him as the franchise's Quarterback of the Future.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher has seen enough to regard him as his Quarterback for Now . . . and that's about as far as he will go with it.
Davis once again took a lead role in practice Wednesday at Rams Park. Displaced starter Shaun Hill moved around just fine, suggesting that he has recovered from his quadriceps strain.
Former Houston Texans quarterback Case Keenum is still around, too, and taking a few practice reps. And rookie Garrett Gilbert is still on the practice squad.
So the quarterback controversy, such as it is, will continue as Sam Bradford recovers from knee surgery and Rams management mulls its options for next season and beyond.
It is a nice problem to have. Davis breathed life into the Rams offense in his two starts, completing 52 of 71 passes for 562 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in those games.
He built a passer rating of 98.4 and a QBR of 77.5, lofty numbers Bradford seldom approached. So far the NFL stage has not been too big for him.
After mostly struggling in training camp passing drills — where he languished as the No. 4 quarterback for a spell — Davis played with confidence during the actual games.
His productive day against Dallas (30 for 42, 327 yards) caused excessive celebration among Rams fans. Can you blame them for getting carried away?
Davis can evade the rush and make plays on the move. His arm strength and accuracy remain an issue, despite his high completion percentage, but he is finding ways to make plays.
He connected instantly with Brian Quick, then got in sync with tight ends Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks. He is playing with confidence and providing vocal leadership on the sideline and in the huddle.
What an amazing story this is.
Davis was thisclose to washing out of the NFL, probably for good. Now he is making the case to stick around for a while as a back-up — and maybe, just maybe, become another Ryan Fitzpatrick and make some money.
As Post-Dispatch colleague Jim Thomas notes, Davis has put up his numbers against basic defensive schemes and depleted lineups. He can expect to see more blitzes and more disguised coverage in the weeks ahead.
The schedule gets much tougher after the Philadelphia game, which is why Fisher isn't writing off Hill or even Keenum. Fisher prefers to remain cautiously optimistic about Davis while keeping his other options in play.
We do not know how this story will end. But so far it has been far more interesting than most of us imagined it could be.