Santa Clara, Calif. -- The Rams bought high on Robert Woods, but still got a good return on the investment.

That seemed unlikely just 19 months ago, when the Woods signed a five-year, $34-million contract. That worked out to almost $7 million per season for a free-agent receiver who had never reached 700 yards.

The Rams knew. They'd seen Woods run routes, watched him block, heard about his intelligence and seen it show up on tape. Perhaps they also understand something that couldn't be quantified by stats, that Woods would have been better off catching balls from a JUGS machine than from Buffalo Bills quarterbacks.

Woods' deal now looks shrewd. Going into Sunday's game at San Francisco, Woods ranks seventh in the NFL with 524 receiving yards, and he has topped 100 yards in three of his past four games. Given that receiver Cooper Kupp is out with a knee injury, Woods will be asked to carry the Rams' pass attack again.

"He's just become a guy that I can really trust with any route, any sort of cut, anything," quarterback Jared Goff said. "He's a guy that I really have a lot of faith in."

Woods, a second-round pick of Buffalo in 2013 out of USC, seems certain to achieve the first 1,000-yard season of his NFL career and, perhaps, the most-prolific season of his football life. Woods' single-season high, at any level, was his 1,378 yards in his junior season in high school.

Versatility is Woods' greatest attribute. He runs all types of routes and was averaging 14.6 yards per catch before Sunday's game.

"He is a great piece to this offense," running back Todd Gurley said. "I am glad to have him. It is going to show up on tape. Now they don't know where he is going to play. He is not just a Z. He could be the X, the F or whatever. He has been doing a great job."

Gurley wasn't randomly running through the alphabet. The "Z" is Woods' primary position, as a flanker on the strong side of the offense. The "X" is the split end position usually filled by Brandin Cooks, but Woods can do that also.

Then there's the "F," the slot spot. When Kupp left each of the past two games early with injuries (first a concussion, then the knee), Woods moved over to the slot and thrived. Now the Rams have options.

Woods could continue in the slot, with Cooks and Josh Reynolds outside, or the Rams could put newly signed receiver Nick Williams in the slot and return Woods to flanker. The Rams, understandably, didn't reveal their strategy this week, which is why Woods' versatility is rough for opponents like the 49ers.

"At the end of the day, it's a spot on the field, the receiver spot," Woods said. "We move the ball around. We share it around, and everybody is going to get their touches. We're all going to play every position and be in every single spot."

Woods has been around this area so long, it can be easy to forget he's only 26 and still improving.

After a strong 2017 season, in which he totaled a career-high 781 yards as the No. 2 receiving option on a balanced and prolific Rams offense, Woods didn't remain static. Goff said Woods worked on his hands, which always have been steady but not always aggressive. The difference seems evident this season.

No longer content simply to play it safe and pull the ball into his body, Woods now makes an increased number of catches with his arms extended, and trusts his hands to make the play. That improved skill has allowed Woods to shed any thought of a "possession receiver" label and be thought of as a playmaker.

"He's got some of the best hands I've ever played with," Goff said. "It's comparable to anyone I've ever played with. If you guys watch most of his catches nowadays, it's all out in front of his body, all with his hands. He makes some miraculous catches as well with his hands."

Woods' tangible improvement, in terms of profile and statistics, is not an outlier. It's not the first time it's happened with a former Bills receiver. It's not even the only time for a receiver in the Bills' 2013 draft class.

Just 37 picks after they picked Woods in 2013, the Bills drafted Marquise Goodwin in the third round. Goodwin played 39 games for the Bills over four seasons and caught a total of 49 passes for 780 yards. The Bills let him leave as a free agent after the 2016 season, when Woods left, and the 49ers signed Goodwin.

Last season, Goodwin broke out with 56 catches for 962 yards. The 49ers were so impressed that, in March, they signed Goodwin to a three-year contract extension worth approximately $20 million. Last week against Green Bay, Goodwin had four catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

"We talk about that," Woods said. "When we were in Buffalo together, me and him competed. ... Sometimes the ball didn't find us, because it was a different type of offense, but we didn't let that get to us. We just kept playing. Then we went to different offenses where the pass game helped bring out our game."

So it's not just Woods. A critical eye should be turned to the Bills, who probably stunted Woods' development. In four years in Buffalo, Woods caught passes from E.J. Manuel, Thad Lewis, Jeff Tuel, Kyle Orton, Matt Cassel and Tyrod Taylor. None of those players remain starting NFL quarterbacks.

Buffalo never ranked higher than 18th in the NFL in pass yards during Woods' time there, which is why eyebrows were raised when the Rams gave him a relatively big contract. They had no doubts.

Shane Waldron, the Rams' pass-game coordinator, indicated he didn't have much first-hand knowledge of Woods before the signing, but the team felt comfortable to "trust those resources that you use to evaluate him before he gets here." The Rams heard only good things about Woods' character and talent.

"He has exceeded every expectation that we've had for him," Waldron said. "He's done a great job as a leader, in the run game, as a runner, as a blocker, as a pass protector at times, and obviously as a great route runner and really has just improved his game every day."

-- By Rich Hammond, The Orange County Register