With fantasy football season officially underway, injuries will likely dictate a number of drafts. The St. Louis Rams took the first big hit of the season when they lost quarterback Sam Bradford for the season due to an ACL tear. That sets the Rams' offense back a few steps as Jeff Fisher continues to stress that they team will not be seeking out a trade to replace him. With wide receivers like Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt on the roster, do fantasy owners take a risk on the playmakers without Bradford throwing them the ball?
Austin and Britt are both listed as the starting wide receivers for the Rams this season. After a quiet rookie year, Austin was expected to do big things with Bradford and the pairing of Britt would only help. Austin's finished his first year with just 40 catches for 418 yards and four touchdowns. He was expected to do much more. Fantasy owners were likely disappointed in the wide receiver's value, but with a year under his belt, Austin told media that he was more comfortable in the offense and ready for a breakout year.
"Toward the middle and the end (of the season) I probably started picking up on it," Austin said, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . "That's when I started having some big games. But for the most part, it's all about the mental game, getting comfortable. I believe I'm comfortable now."
Signing Britt would help Austin out. Fisher's plan was to get the second-year wide receiver out into space more and Britt would draw the defense away from him. After falling out of favor with the Tennessee Titans, the Rams remained confident that Britt would bounce back just fine and placing him on top of the depth chart says maybe they were right.
Both Britt and Austin were expected to do much better in fantasy this season, but the injury to Bradford hurts that idea. The Rams will operate heavily under a run-first offense as Shaun Hill takes over at quarterback. Britt and Austin are coming off struggling years and now their success will be dictated by the arm of a quarterback who has appeared in five games over the past three years. If their productivity was sporadic before, it is guaranteed to remain that way. However, one thing is certain, if Zac Stacy or Tre Mason are available in drafts, both running backs should do just fine this season.
