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The St. Louis Rams' quarterback situation has been pretty strange this season.
They lost their starting "franchise" quarterback in the third preseason game. Then, the veteran backup quarterback went down in the first game of the regular season against the Minnesota Vikings. So who filled the void of those two quarterbacks? Third-year pro Austin Davis.
Davis isn't a stranger to the Rams organization. He was brought in as an undrafted free agent in 2012, but was released shortly after. Davis would then join the Miami Dolphins organization in 2013 before returning to the Rams after Sam Bradford tore his ACL. He started this season on the outside looking in, not even guaranteed to make the roster. When Bradford went down in the preseason, Davis made the most of his opportunities and earned the Rams backup slot behind Shaun Hill.
It's unlikely that the Rams foresaw a scenario where they would have to play Davis before their bye week, but they were forced to play him as early as the season opener. Davis would finish the game with a completion rating of 69.6, 192 passing yards and an interception.
So far in three games Davis has played pretty well. How well? Well let's look at the information presented in these tweets.
It’s a great feeling to see one of our Elite QB’s Austin Davis sitting at the top of NFL Passing Completion % list. pic.twitter.com/O9lKUmHV9m
— EliteFootballAcademy (@elitefootball) September 24, 2014
Which QB leads NFL in Air Yards per attempt so far this NFL season? If you guessed Austin Davis, you are correct. http://t.co/SQ9GlBb8xd
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) September 18, 2014
Do you need more stats? How about these statistics for you: Davis is 9th in passing yards. He is also 9th for average yards on a pass with 8.0 but if you take out quarterbacks who haven't thrown more than 40 passes, then he's fifth.
By no means do I believe it's all about the stats, but it's hard not to watch the Rams offense play and see that the O looks rejuvenated. The thing about Davis is that he passes the ball down the field and doesn't dink and dunk like Rams fans have been accustomed to their quarterbacks doing.
Head Coach Jeff Fisher has stated repeatedly that Shaun Hill will be their quarterback going forward if he's healthy. More than likely, Hill will be healthy after the bye week and the Rams have a decision to make. However, if Hill doesn't perform as well as Davis has done since he's become a starter, then fans will have another reason to be upset.