Is Donny Avery In The Mix To Return Kicks For The Rams?

[r8rh8rmike]

Is Donnie Avery in the mix to return kicks for the Rams?
by VanRam on Aug 5, 2009 8:50 AM CDT



I like that head coach Steve Spagnuolo is not holding anything back for the St. Louis Rams training camp. It's rough and tumble and exactly what this team needs to forge a new identity. If all this tough stuff works out, they may have to play outdoors eventually; a dome just somehow unbefitting of a gut-eating football team. Well, a new stadium is a long way off, but a new season is practically here. Let's round up and discuss the reports from yesterday's practice.

It was an afternoon quickie, shorts and shells. SS James Butler was back on the field after banging his knee, but FB Mike Karney sat the p.m. session out as well. Keep an eye on Karney's status this week. Don't let the easy afternoon fool you. They still went full tilt in the a.m.

From the same report linked above, Jason Smith fared better against Leonard Little, but it doesn't count, in my mind, unless they've got the pads on. The rookie even did some work at left tackle. I suspect he'll continue to get some work on that side, maybe even in preseason games, since the Rams have to be prepared for all contingencies regarding their OTs.

Four players did some work returning the ball. Kenneth Darby, Samkon Gado and Donnie Avery joined incumbent Derek Stanley. Darby returned seven kicks last season, averaging 24.7 yards per return; five returns were for more than 20 yards. Stanley, before getting hurt, averaged 24.8 yards on 25 returns, he had 20 returns of more than 20 yards and his longest was 70 yards. Avery returned one kick for 21 yards last year. Nothing jumps off the page here. Stanley and Darby have acceptable numbers as return men. Avery has enticing speed, but probably better to save his legs since he's the team's unquestioned #1 receiver. I'll be anxious to see if more names get thrown into the mix for the return jobs.

Heavily watched CB Tye Hill must have been available for a long chat with the press yesterday. There are dueling profiles of Hill over at the Post-Dispatch and the Belleville News Democrat. In short, he's healthy and ready to live up to the billing. Whether or not he does remains to be seen. For some insight into Hill's stuggles, check out the last edition of Turf Show Radio.

[Keenum]

Hopefully Stanely or Darby will be good enough to use and we'll be able to avoid having to put Avery out there. Then again, if he shows that he's way better than the others, and it looks like he could return a few for TDs, I wouldn't be upset with him returning kicks.

[tomahawk247]

i wouldnt want Avery doing it fulltime, but if he is the best man for the job then maybe we could use him in certain situations

[Ramer]

I think Avery is gonig to be another Torry Holt on this team, I would hate seeing him get hurt returning kicks.

[RamOfDenmark]

Stanley would be my current choice as return man. He did a pretty decent job last year I thought and he's not a critically important part of our offense either so injuries are not as serious a liability. I'd like to see him make the team and be active on gamedays as the returner and also ready to step up if one of the receivers ahead of him on the depth chart gets injured - since he's an ok option as a WR too.

Darby & Gado don't seem to me like the speedy, shifty guys you need for the return position. As for Avery I don't want to risk the injury just to get (on average) maybe a couple of yards more on the returns, he's way too important as a WR now.

[TekeRam]

Obviously Avery is no Cribbs or Hester, and so I see no real need to get him out there returning kicks, unless it's a message from the fantasy football gods to me that I need to draft him in one of my leagues where we have return yards as a personal stat.

Save his legs, save his health and just go with either Darby or Stanley. Might be Derek's only way onto the team!

[RebelYell]

Stanley is still trying to recover from his injury. On the radio they said it's about 50/50 right now whether he even makes the team and if he can't get healthy, he's gone.

I'm betting the Rams sign someone later to return kicks.

[Azul e Oro]

I'm really hoping Avery is only being used as a KR in camp to give the coverage teams a good test vs top speed/elusiveness.The secret to Atlanta's improved ST performance, for eg, was minimizing returns,imo, not looking for the home run.

In any case, every game I've watched with one of these top return guys has had commentators observe how the returns had diminished as their offensive responsibilities increased so what's the value?

At last count, we have 942 wide receivers on the roster. Surely one of these guys has the requisite hands, gonads, and speed to do the job.

[shower beers]

Just the idea of those collisions is making me cringe...please give the duties to someone else!

[Warner4prez]

Didn't we just take the returner from an AFL team to try out kick returns?

[general counsel]

Accident waiting to happen. Upside not worth the risk.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[Keenum]

I'd want Stanley to do it as well. He's shifty, and as said, looked pretty good last year. Darby didn't do a bad job either, but as said, he's not the quick type of guy who has the shot of returning one for a TD when he gets the ball.