On Wednesday, St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher named quarterback Austin Davis the starter despite backup Shaun Hill being healthy to play. Thus far this season, Davis has definitely deserved to be the starter in St. Louis.
But who actually is Austin Davis? Where did he play college football at and how did he end in St. Louis?
Davis went to Southern Mississippi and played all four years from 2008-2011. In 2011 as a senior, Davis started all 14 games and threw for 3,496 yards, 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also had a 60.2 completion percentage and a 138.2 quarterback rating. Over his entire career at Southern Mississippi, Davis had a 61.1 completion percentage, 1o,892 passing yards, 83 touchdowns, 27 touchdowns and a 135.4 quarterback rating.
After his senior year, he would not hear his name called during the 2012 NFL Draft, but would find his way onto the St. Louis Rams roster as an undrafted free agent. Fast forward to week five in the 2014 regular season and he is the starter for the Rams. He has played well this season. He did not start week one versus the Minnesota Vikings but came in during the game to replace an injured Shaun Hill.
In that game versus Minnesota, Davis threw for 192 yards and an interception, but was efficient on the day with a 69.5 completion percentage. In week two versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he would lead the Rams to a 19-17 victory. His efficiency continued as he had a 75.8 completion percentage to go along with 235 passing yards.
Finally in week three against the Dallas Cowboys, a game where the Rams gave up the lead, Davis threw the crucial interception to Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne to seal the game. But throughout the rest of the game, he played solid throwing for 327 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He finished the game with a 71.4 completion percentage and 98.0 quarterback rating.
Coming off their bye week, Davis faces another test this week against the Philadelphia Eagles, who will be looking to win after losing last week to the San Francisco 49ers. When Davis goes under center tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. he will be going against an Eagles defense that gives up 257.5 passing yards per game.
The opportunities will be there for Davis if he makes the right read in which he has done so far this season. One thing that Davis and the Rams offense will have to look out for is safety Malcolm Jenkins, who leads the Eagles with three interceptions. Jenkins is the quarterback of the secondary and will make you pay if you make the wrong read.
Do I expect Davis to have a good game? Yes I do. If Chad Henne and Kirk Cousins can have solid games against this defense then why can’t Davis do the same. He is an efficient quarterback and has the weapons in wide receiver Brian Quick and tight end Jared Cook to make plays.
If Davis doesn’t make the crucial mistakes that he did against Dallas, he could keep this game close on Sunday.
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