Chris Givens Leads Brian Quick In Rams' Wide Receiver Development

The wide receiver position has been an apparent weakness for the St. Louis Rams since the departures of franchise greats Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce quite some time ago. The team came into this past offseason looking to change that fact and drafting both Brian Quick and Chris Givens was a definite step in the right direction.

Word out of camp is that Givens is making a stronger push for an immediate starting job than Quick. The coaches are thrilled with the explosive nature of Givens at the flanker spot while Quick has shown flashes of brilliance, but failed to consistently maintain that level of play.

Receivers coach Ray Sherman has been hard on Quick in practices getting in his ear and trying to push the young receiver. The second rounder out of Appalachian State has taken the yelling well saying: “I’m a rookie. It’s to be expected. He’s always going to say something. But that’s a good thing, you know? If he wasn’t saying anything, that means he’s not paying attention, right?”

Quick is onto something there as Sherman has worked with some of the league’s best pass catchers during his time in the league from Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens to Randy Moss and Chris Carter. That is why when Sherman says of Quick: “He has so much ability, so much potential”, people take notice.

What Sherman is most impressed with when it comes to Quick is the attitude that he displays out on the field. Sherman said: “Even when he made a mistake, he came back and made a good play and then I told him, ‘That’s what I’m talking about. That’s the way you stay on it. The most important thing you try to get the young bucks to understand is how you have to consistently do that every single time.”

At the moment, it appears that consistency factor is what has Quick lagging behind fourth round pick Givens in the receiver hierarchy at this point. Most expect that to change by the time the regular season rolls around and with Sherman coaching him up on a daily basis, Quick will start to shape up in a hurry.

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