Oct 20, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver(83) drops a pass in the end zone as Carolina Panthers cornerback(23) defends in the fourth quarter. The Carolina Panthers defeated the St. Louis Rams 30-15 at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Back in 2012, the St.Louis Rams drafted who they thought would be their number one receiver of the future in Brian Quick in the second round with the 33rd overall pick. That could still be the case, but with fans growing impatient, its beginning to look more and more like Quick will be just another disappointing draft bust.

Coming from Appalachian St. the Rams knew Quick was going to be a project, the only problem is, that’s all he has been, a project.

Standing at 6’3, 218lbs, Quick has all the physical features needed to be the number one guy. He’s tall, he’s physical, he has the speed, he just hasn’t translated all of that talent and potential onto the field.

Rams general manager Les Snead was quoted after the 2012 draft that when he looked at Brian Quick he saw current Buccaneers wide receiver Vincent Jackson. Jackson and Quick both have similar size with Jackson standing two inches taller and weighing 12 extra pounds.

Similar to Quick, Jackson was also a late bloomer having 59, 453, and 623 yards receiving in his first three seasons. It was in Jackson’s fourth season that he finally broke out, receiving for over 1,000 yards in five of his next six seasons and scoring seven or more touchdowns in each of those 1,000 yard seasons.

The next best comparison is Larry Fitzgerald. Quick probably will never be Fitzgerald, but compared physically, they are astonishingly similar. Fitzgerald is 6’3, 218, while Quick is 6’3, 220. Fitzgerald came out of the gates pretty hot in his rookie season having 780 yards and eight touchdowns. Fitzgerald was a top five pick by the Cardinals, but a guy can dream right?

Quick showed flashes of what he could be in 2012, showing that he was a huge threat in the red zone by scoring a touchdown on a fade route in the against the Vikings, and then scoring another touchdown against the 49ers using his size to push away the cornerback and run into the end zone.

2013 was supposed to be a big year for Quick, it was supposed to be his breakout year. However, time and time again Quick managed to disappoint, always falling short. The deep ball would fall right through his finger tips, he would only get one foot in bounds, or he would run the wrong route. Luck has just never seemed to fall Quick’s way.

Quick did once again however, show that he was a threat in the red zone, but showed that he also had the capability of being a deep threat as he had a 73 yard reception against the Panthers.

At this point, especially after 2013, the Rams have to be shooting themselves in the foot for taking Quick and not Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey who was drafted 12 picks later.

Jeffrey had a slow start last season only having 367 yards, but completely broke out in 2013 having 1,421 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s more of what the Rams would have liked out of Quick. They did reach a little for Quick, but they believed that he was their guy, their investment just hasn’t paid off.

Granted Quick did improve in basically every statistical category in 2013 which is a good sign. However the amount of improvement doesn’t pop out as number one receiver material.

2012

2013

Games Played 15

16

Receptions 11

18

Targets 28

36

Yards 156

302

Average 14.2

16.8

Long 39

73

PFF Rating -2.0

-1.7

Catch Percentage 40.7%

52.9%

YAC 30

108

Slowly but surely Quick is improving. Unfortunately for Quick however, is that this isn’t the race between the tortoise and the hare in which slow and steady wins the race. This is the NFL and the time to win is now.

The 6’3, 220lbs receiver out of Appalachia State, has shown that he has what it takes in flashes, it’s just a matter of putting it all together on a more consistent basis.

The Rams would love to have Quick in their future, that’s why Jeff Fisher and Les Snead drafted him and not Alshon Jeffrey. The only problem is, if he’s not producing on the field, there’s not much the Rams can do but move on.

Snead and Fisher predicted a break out year for this team in 2014, for Brian Quick’s case, let’s surely hope so.