Keenum a solid choice for patient Rams
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11190/keenum-a-solid-choice-for-patient-rams
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- It took all of about an hour for the rumors and speculation to run rampant after St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford's season-ending knee injury became official on Aug. 24.
Outside of Rams Park, names like Mark Sanchez, Kirk Cousins, Ryan Mallett, even Tim Tebow were tossed around as possible quarterback additions for the Rams. But coach Jeff Fisher was adamant from the beginning that his team wouldn't jump into some short-sighted solution. He backed veteran Shaun Hill as the starter and preached patience in the search for more depth.
"It makes no sense to jump and react right now and try to fill the hole, whatever it costs," Fisher said then. "We’re going to take our time and evaluate this. There’s going to be some quarterbacks that are getting released and there may or may not be some quarterbacks that have trade value. We just don’t know. It’s way too soon."
Fisher made those comments a little more than a week ago but proved true to his word Monday afternoon when the Rams claimed quarterback Case Keenum off waivers from the Houston Texans.
In Keenum, the Rams are getting a third-year player with some actual game experience, something current backup Austin Davis lacks. The Rams placed tight end Justice Cunningham on injured reserve with an ankle injury to make room for Keenum. Having Davis allows the Rams to have a backup who knows coordinator Brian Schottenheimer's offense and should also allow Keenum to take his time getting acclimated in St. Louis.
Keenum started eight games for the Texans in 2013, posting 1,760 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 54.2 percent of his passes. He actually ascended to the starting spot after the Rams soundly beat Houston 38-13 in week 6.
Keenum shouldn't be viewed as any sort of long-term answer for the Rams in Bradford's absence. That will have to be addressed in the offseason but picking him up looks to be a solid if unspectacular move in the interim.
If nothing else, the Rams did well to find a quarterback who has some game experience without having to give up anything in return. Amongst the many ideas for quarterbacks that some clamored for were fantasy football offers of draft picks up to and including a second round choice. But none of the players being discussed offered any sort of proven upgrade to Hill and would have cost the Rams valuable draft picks.
Those are the same draft picks the Rams will eventually need to select their quarterback of the future and, if they aren't positioned to get such a player, need to put in a package to move up to get said quarterback in the next NFL draft.
With Keenum, the Rams did the prudent thing by finding a signal caller who has started a half season's worth of NFL games but costs them nothing more than a simple roster move.
