Donnie Avery

Signed to a three-year $9 million deal, Avery – so long as he can stay healthy – should be the team's deep threat. Last year Avery managed three catches of 40-plus yards on 125 targets, but the overall numbers (13.0 YPC, 6.2 YPT) were subpar. At 5-11, 192, Avery's not a red-zone threat, and he'll have to compete with former first-round pick Jonathan Baldwin for targets. Moreover, the slot work is likely to be at least shared by Dexter McCluster. But head coach Andy Reid typically gets a lot of production out of the passing game, so there should be a good number of targets to go around.

Avery is trying to rebuild his career after he was cut by St. Louis at the end of the preseason last year and then played in only eight games with the Titans. He caught just three passes for 45 yards and one score. Indy has a wide open battle for playing time at receiver after Reggie Wayne and Austin Collie, so Avery could carve out a regular role. He still has good speed, but he's been injury prone. Still, the slot receiver and deep threat roles are up for grabs with rookie T.Y. Hilton looking like Avery's top competition.

After tearing his ACL in the preseason, Avery missed out on his chance to establish himself with franchise quarterback Sam Bradford last year. But given the uncertainty at the wideout position – Mike Sims-Walkers' unfamiliarity with the team, Danario Alexander chronically hurt, Danny Amendola better suited to return duties – Avery could very much be back in the mix. At 5-11, 192, Avery relies on quickness, acceleration and speed, and with Bradford under center, would have a chance to make some big plays, should Avery prove he’s healthy. At press time, Avery appeared to be close to 100 percent during unofficial workout sessions.

After a promising rookie season, Avery battled hamstring, knee and thigh injuries for most of 2009 and was rarely up to full speed. Combine that with poor quarterbacking, and the result was an anemic 6.1 yards per target and 48-percent catch rate. When healthy, the 5-11, 192-pound Avery is blazingly fast, and dangerous in the open field. He’s not very physical, unlikely to see much work near the end zone, and he’s handicapped by having to adjust to rookie signal-caller Sam Bradford.

The first receiver chosen in the 2008 draft, Avery showed flashes of his potential, while contending with a dysfunctional and inconsistent passing game. Overall, the numbers weren’t pretty (his 6.5 yards per target ranked 32nd among the 35 100-target receivers), but Avery wasn’t significantly worse than his veteran teammate Torry Holt (30th). While Avery had only eight catches of 20 yards or more, half of those were for 40-plus, a function of his blazing speed and open-field quickness. At 5-11, 192, Avery’s in the mold of Lee Evans, Santonio Holmes and other smaller, quicker speedsters who can get down the field, but who aren’t well suited to red-zone work. With Holt gone, Avery should be the Rams’ unquestioned No. 1 target (at press time, Keenan Burton, a fourth-round pick from 2008 with all of 13 career receptions is nominally next on the team’s receiving depth chart). Avery suffered a hairline fracture of his hip last season, but in an interview in early May declared the injury completely healed.

The first receiver off the board in this season's draft, Avery's a legitimate speedster with good hands who could push Drew Bennett for targets early. With Torry Holt aging into more of a possession receiver, Avery could be the team's home-run threat, though he might need to add more muscle to escape jams at the line of scrimmage.