The St. Louis Rams claimed Case Keenum off waivers on Monday. This comes one day after the Houston Texans cut Keenum to make room for the newly acquired Ryan Mallet. With the season-ending knee injury to Sam Bradford, the Rams quarterback position is wide open. Keenum, veteran Shaun Hill, and practice squad mainstay Austin Davis are the three passers on the Rams roster right now, and I think Keenum has an opportunity to prove to people he can be a legitimate NFL player.

Case Keenum’s college career is the stuff of legends. He is the current NCAA Division I FBS career leader in passing yards and touchdowns, and the margins between one and two are pretty wide. Keenum has 19,217 career yards, over 2,000 yards more than University of Hawaii Alumni Timmy Chang. His 155 career touchdowns are thirteen more than Boise State’s Kellen Moore’s career total. In his senior year, Keenum led his Houston Cougars to a 12-0 record, but faltered in the Conference USA Championship Game, losing to Southern Miss. They bounced back in the TicketCity Bowl, beating Penn State 30-14, finishing the season 13-1. In his final bowl game, he threw for 532 yards and three touchdowns.

In Keenum’s senior year, he finished with 5,631 yards to go along with 48 touchdowns and a passer rating of 174.0. He threw only five interceptions the entire year, finishing with a nearly ten to one Touchdown to Interception ratio. Despite his exceptional year, and career, many saw Keenum as a system Quarterback, succeeding only because his coaching system allowed him to, and he went undrafted. In some ways, the critics were right. Keenum was exceptional in the system he played in, which allowed him to effectively utilize his weapons and talents, but shied away from the things he struggled with.

Case Keenum’s best asset is his accuracy. He is a deadly accurate passer. He can hit his spots with pinpoint control, and fit passes into tight windows. Despite his accuracy, he struggles with his arm strength. He doesn’t necessarily put a lot of zip behind his throws, and can’t make deep throws like some of his counterparts. He is also somewhat undersized for an NFL quarterback, standing at just 6’1”. The system at the University of Houston catered to the short, intermediate passes that Keenum could hit easily, not putting as much emphasis on deep balls. The system was wildly successful, as reflected in their quarterback’s career totals.

Keenum got an opportunity to prove his doubters wrong in 2013, as the Houston Texans lost their top two quarterbacks to injury and were forced to put their season in the hands of Keenum. The 25-year old played in eight games, and Houston did not win any of those games. They played closely contested games, losing by seven points or less in seven of the eight tries. Keenum performed admirably for an untested and unproven entity. He completed 54% of his passes for 1,760 yards and nine touchdowns with six interceptions. His first three games were very good, as he threw 822 yards and seven touchdowns with no picks. His best game came in week eight, where he threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns in a tight game with the Indianapolis Colts. Keenum’s last five games were rougher, as he completed just 52% of his throws, with just 938 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions.

Keenum proved that there is untapped potential in his short time with the Texans. When he was good, he was very good. But when he was bad, he was pretty bad. His first three games showed that there is plenty of skill, but putting it all together, and playing well consistently is the difficult part. As an NFL starter, he needs to learn that he cannot make all the throws he attempted in college. The defenders are faster, smarter, and just plain better than a lot of the small school players he faced in the NCAA. He needs to make smart throws, and not try to force passes into small windows that can be shut very quickly. Much like in college, Keenum needs to learn to use his strengths to overcome his weaknesses.

With the Rams, it will probably take Keenum a few weeks to learn the playbook and become comfortable with the talent around him. He is only 26-years old, so he has plenty of time to learn the pro game. With guys like Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt and Austin Pettis to throw to, he certainly has an opportunity to showcase that he has the skills to be an NFL quarterback. It’s all on him at this point.