The Austin Davis hype train is officially off the rails.
According to St. Louis Rams beat writer Jim Thomas, coach Jeff Fisher said today that the starting quarterback this weekend against the Denver Broncos will not be incumbent Davis. Instead, the team will turn to veteran journeyman Shaun Hill to lead the way.
I’ve made no effort to hide my support of Hill. I think he’s a solid quarterback and an efficient game manager. But with the ringing endorsement Davis was given at the time of his being announced the starter — remember, Fisher was quoted as saying “We’re going to go ahead and start Austin for the remainder of the season” and that Davis would be given a lot of rope — it’s a bit surprising to see him go from zero to hero and back again so quickly.
He’s had a rough couple of starts and does seem to be crashing back to earth.With the exception of the Rams’ win against Seattle, Davis’ completion percentage has been on a steady decline since the Tampa Bay game. The past three games have resulted in five interceptions, compared to four interceptions over the prior six games. And his QBR against Arizona — 62.6 — was his second-worst of the season, ahead of only the improbable win against San Francisco.
Still, with this being mostly a write-off of a season, the timing comes across as a bit odd for this move. With this team in full upheaval across multiple positions, it doesn’t make too much sense to add even more chaos to the equation. This switch means that Hill will have to find chemistry with WRs Kenny Britt, Tavon Austin and company, which could take anywhere from one drive to the entire season.
Now that we have a quarterback who’s even less of a deep threat against opposing secondaries behind center, does that mean other teams’ defences will be more likely to stack the box and nullify any effective running game we might get out of RB Tre Mason? Will Hill be able to quickly shake off the rust of not having seen any significant game action since the season opener?
Lots of questions, not many answers yet.
Battering Rams 