St. Louis Rams: Expectations for Kenny Britt

By Kevin Parvizi | Apr 17, 2015

The St. Louis Rams were able to reunite former Tennessee Titans up-and-down wide receiver Kenny Britt with his former head coach in Jeff Fisher, and it’s amazing how much better Britt is on teams that are coached by Fisher. After being one of the league’s most promising receivers early in his career at Tennessee after putting up 775 yards and nine touchdowns on just 42 receptions in his second season, Britt crashed and burned after Fisher left due to injuries and incredibly inconsistent play.

He was deep in the Titans doghouse in 2013 after not blocking, dropping passes, giving up on routes, and openly complaining about his situation. This led to the WR-hungry Rams taking a wise flier on the former Rutgers standout, and it’s safe to say that leaving Tennessee was the best thing to happen to Britt.

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Despite the fact that he had to suffer through some more anemic quarterback play, Britt put up some impressive numbers in a huge bounce-back year with 48 receptions for 748 yards and three touchdowns.

While those numbers don’t jump off the page, they are excellent in comparison to what most WRs would put up while catching passes from Austin Davis and Shaun Hill. He averaged over 15 yards per reception, showing off the size-speed combination that made him such a high-upside player early in his career with the Titans.

Britt heads into the 2015 season with the arrow pointing upwards, and his old pal Fisher sung his praises earlier this month. Per ESPN NFL Nation’s Nick Wagoner, the Rams experienced head coach stated that he’s expecting more out of Britt next year, and he sees more production on the horizon for a wide receiver who is still just 26 despite already playing in six NFL seasons.

It’s hard to hit 50 passes and 800 yards with poor quarterback play, atrocious blocking, and just 84 targets, so it would have been unrealistic to expect standout stats from Britt, especially since the 2014 season was a year for him to rehab his value after a disastrous end to his career in Tennessee. He parlayed his work last year into a new contract with the St. Louis Rams, but obviously both parties are hungry for more given the 6’3″, 223-pound deep threat’s potential.

Britt is a clear part of an offense that has an interesting group of skill position players in Tre Mason, Brian Quick, Zac Stacy, Stedman Bailey, Jared Cook, and Britt. New quarterback Nick Foles works best when he has a breadth of options to work with, since he’s the kind of quick decision-maker with decent-but-not-special arm talent who works best with a variety of spices to cook with.

Foles is coming off of a poor season, but I would be shocked if he doesn’t prove to be an upgrade over the Rams QBs last season, even if it proves to be only a mild upgrade. It’s unrealistic to expect anyone other than Foles to start next season, but with that incredible (and fluky) 2013 season still in mind, Britt has a great chance to improve on his numbers next season.

Based on Fisher’s comments and the general buzz around Kenny Britt following last season’s 748 yards, we should fully expect him to receive more than 84 targets in 2015. According to Advanced Football Analytics, Britt averaged 8.9 yards per target with a 57.1% catch rate, as he averaged 15.6 yards per reception.

The Rams mainly used his size and speed combo to play downfield and snap up vertical throws. He played a key role in the offense, and that will hold true next season, even if the Rams decide to give Quick, who was perhaps even more impressive last season with 9.6 yards per target before his injury, more targets.

Nov 23, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver Kenny Britt (81) celebrates a touchdown against the San Diego Chargers during the second quarter at Qualcomm Stadium. The touchdown would be called back on a penalty. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

While I think Cook is a nice, versatile tight end, I can’t comprehend why he received a team-high 98 targets in the face of a team-low 53.1% catch rate and 6.5 yards per target. Tavon Austin had just 45 targets, but I still think he and Cook will lose targets to Britt and Quick.

I wonder if Britt will receive 100 targets after nobody on the Rams hit that threshold last season, because, if he does, then he might be a threat for 900 receiving yards. I think it’s realistic to expect another 3-5 receiving touchdowns, 60 receptions, and over 800 yards from him.

That said, while he will be given the chance to be the team’s No. 1 receiver due to his skill and his solid 2014 campaign, I think the Rams will use a spread-it-around approach for Foles with the likes of Bailey and Quick also vying for targets.

Even so, Britt will most likely receive the brunt of the targets, as Quick’s heart-breaking injury could prevent him from being a factor for much of the 2015 season, as he tore his rotator cuff and is still recovering. Meanwhile, while Bailey is a better chain-mover with more reliable hands, he isn’t as dynamic (or as big at 5’10”) as Britt.

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