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The Rams' website (stlouisrams.com) confirms that Keenan Burton remains the favorite to open camp as St. Louis' starting wide out opposite Donnie Avery.
 

Mancini’s Take: Burton is a player I was raving about last year in training camp, but injuries prevented him from having an impact in his rookie year. There’s not much to dislike about the converted safety. He’s a student of the game who runs precise timing routes and is a very physical player that can make big plays after the catch. One of the problems with him is that he has long legs that make him susceptible to injury. The other aspect of the game he needs to work on in maintaining his focus. The bigger and stronger Burton could potentially be Donald Driver to Donnie Avery’s Greg Jennings. I said “potentially.” We’ll see. As far as Avery goes, Ross, I think where we disagree on him is that you think he’s underrated and I think he’s slightly overrated. But we’ll get to that at another time.

Mandel's Take: Perfect segue! Here's exhibit 210 on rookie receivers struggling during their debut season. Burton was banged up last season and, like every Ram, had a frustrating 2008. Burton is the perfect complement to the blazing Avery with good size, solid run-after-the-catch ability, and the ability to go over the middle without fear. The former Kentucky Wildcat is going to be a nice red zone target. He'll be in competition with Laurent Robinson and Ronald Curry, but it's Burton that will emerge. As for Avery, yeah, Rev--I expect big things from the new number one this season as the Rams slowly begin to climb their way back to NFL relevance.
 

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