Rams Team Headlines: Britt The Bright Spot For LA Offense In 2016
By Sam McPherson
When an NFL team is the worst in the league at scoring points, you don't expect one of its starters at a skill position to be having the best season of his career. But, that is exactly what is happening for Los Angeles Rams' wide receiver Kenny Britt, as he leads the team with 56 receptions, 855 yards receiving and five touchdown catches with four games to go in the season.
The remarkable thing is that Britt is posting his career-best numbers with inconsistent and mediocre play at quarterback. Receivers need good QBs to throw them the ball in order to be successful, but like former Rams star WR Isaac Bruce in 1995, Britt is overcoming this L.A. roster's QB challenges to be the one bright spot on an otherwise terrible offense.
Britt's Best Season
Prior to this year, Britt's best output probably came in 2010, when he was a member of the Tennessee Titans. As a second-year player, he caught 42 passes for 775 yards and nine TDs as Tennessee posted a 6-10 record under head coach Jeff Fisher. Three different QBs started at least one game that season for the Titans: Kerry Collins, Rusty Smith and Vince Young.
Fisher clearly likes Britt, as he brought him to the Rams organization before the 2014 season. Britt has thrived in Fisher's offenses, despite not having any stellar QBs throwing him the ball. This year, of course, the Rams have used just two starting quarterbacks, and neither will be mistaken for even Collins right now.
Reminiscent Of Bruce's 1995 Season
Over two decades ago, the Rams had a similar situation with a soon-to-be-famous WR and a cast of nobodies at QB. Chris Miller started 13 games and Mark Rypien started the other three for the 1995 Rams, and that didn't stop Isaac Bruce from posting arguably the greatest WR season in the history of the NFL. Considering the team was 7-9 with those two QBs throwing him the ball, Bruce still caught 119 passes for 1,781 yards and 13 TDs.
The yardage mark was the second-best number at the time in the history of the NFL, and the reception total was fifth best ever at the time. Taking into contextual account the QB quality, Bruce's season still stands out among all the most statistically dominant WR seasons ever.
Britt Is Not Bruce, But ...
The Rams QBs in 1995 combined for a 76.5 QB rating, and this year, the QBs have put up a 75.2 QB rating. Britt isn't having the kind of historic season that Bruce did, but he is still managing to look good with lesser QB play behind him. For the lowest-scoring team in the NFL this year, Britt is doing what he needs to do in order to score a bog contract on the free-agent market next spring.
With final projected numbers this year of 74 catches and 1,140 yards, Britt is literally the only good thing for the Los Angeles Rams on offense this year. This week at home, Britt should find some daylight against the Atlanta Falcons defense, and it would be nice if the Rams could retain Britt's services down the line to pair with rookie QB Jared Goff, too. Any veteran presence like Britt at the wide receiver position would benefit Goff's development and the team overall in 2017.