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What has happened to the Rams low key, genius, off-season pickup Kenny Britt, who mostly every person was just starting to buy into as the preseason came to an end? He's been very quiet so far this season, but why?
So far this season Kenny Britt has been targeted a whopping 3 times.
Lucky for us, it is easy to dissect why the summer hype man has received such little love. Teams are stacking the box with a focus to shut down the run. This leaves more one-on-one coverage on the outside. In other words, receivers are more likely to get open. Brian Quick has had somewhat of an emergence. He has been the first read on the vast majority of passes. In fact, Quick leads the team with 18 targets through the first two weeks. In second, Jared Cook has 12 targets and in third, Lance Kendricks with seven.There doesn't seem to be any sign showing the team going in a different direction.
Due to the effort from teams to stop the run, as well as Quick's refined route running and understanding of the playbook, it has been relatively easy for Quick (aka the first read) to get open. As long as the first read is open and being productive (Quick has 14 receptions for 173 yards), there is no reason to go to option two or three.
The good news here is that Kenny Britt has not struggled to get open, nor has he been dealing with drops or injuries. He simply is not the focus of the gameplan. The bad news here is that Stedman Bailey is returning, which is not really bad news at all. It just makes it that much more difficult to get the ball.
As the season moves along, if Brian Quick continues to be productive - or quite possibly gets better - opponents will began to look to slow him down. In an effort to slow down Quick, two things are likely to happen:
- The running game will open up more, and...
- More passes will be available for Kenny Britt, as well as other receivers
As of right now, Kenny Britt is looking more like a mid- to late-season breakout candidate than a star from the beginning. Let's not beat him up to badly right now. Let's see how the season unfolds first.
Remember, we are only two games in.