Cardswire ranks Rams WR corps last in NFC West...

No love for Rams receivers? Cards Wire ranks Rams last in NFC WestDec 17, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin (11) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports.

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

By: Blaine Grisak | 21 hours ago
The Los Angeles Rams haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since Torry Holt in 2007. Since then, it has been a struggle at the position to say the least. Jess Root over at Cards Wire recently ranked the NFC West’s receiving groups, and didn’t give much love to the Rams.

Here’s Root’s rankings:

Arizona Cardinals: Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, John Brown (and J.J. Nelson)
Seattle Seahawks: Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Tyler Lockett (and Paul Richardson)
San Fransico 49ers: Torrey Smith, Jerome Simpson, Quinton Patton (and Bruce Ellington)
Los Angeles Rams: Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt, Pharoh Cooper (and Brian Quick)
Root had the following to say about the Rams:

“For the Rams, their main guy is Tavon Austin, who still has yet to really break out. He is a nice playmaker and I see him more as a trick skill player. As a true receiver, I am not sold, even if Jeff Fisher thinks Austin can have 100 catches in 2016. The guy who will be good is rookie Pharoh Cooper, but since he has yet to do anything in the pros, let’s wait a year. And if we are being honest, the Rams offense is all about Todd Gurley, so they don’t need elite play at receiver. They need to have adequate play.”

For the most part, it’s hard to disagree with the rankings. The Cardinals had the number one offense in the NFL and with guys like Fitzgerald, Floyd and Brown, it doesn’t get much better than that group.

The Seahawks are second as they have a group with a lot of depth. Baldwin has proven he can be a No. 1 receiver, while Kearse and Lockett are decent second and third options.

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Where I disagree with Root, however, is in that I would probably put the Rams above the 49ers. If the 49ers still had Anquan Boldin, I would keep them above the Rams, but Smith hasn’t had a 1,000-yard season since 2013 and has been trending downwards. The No. 2 receiver, Simpson, had just 54 yards receiving last year.

Looking at the Rams, Austin proved he can be a top dual-threat player in the NFL. Austin had just 473 yards receiving, but is so dynamic, winding up with 907 combined receiving and rushing yards. While 434 of those yards are rushing, that still shows how skilled of a player he is.

Kenny Britt is a No. 2 receiver who had 681 yards last season, and is a player who can stretch the field and make the big plays. Britt only had 36 receptions last season, but 11, or 30.5 percent of those, came 20 yards downfield.

That’s a higher percentage than Antonio Brown (18.3 percent), Julio Jones (18.3 percent), DeAndre Hopkins (17.1 percent), Brandon Marshall (17.4 percent), and Odell Beckham Jr. (19.8 percent). All of those players ranked in the top five in receiving yards last season.

We don’t know what Cooper is going to do, but he does have serious potential. As for Quick, if he can get back to where he was in 2014, he is a serious threat, similar to Britt who can stretch the field.

We’ll argue with Jess over there at Cards Wire, as we believe the Rams receiving group deserves a little more credit.