Is Tavon Austin “in his own head” a little bit?

[RamsSince1969]

Tavon is so fast, quick , agile, nimble, FRINCKEN get him the damn ball! I think 31 other teams would be getting the ball to him 5 to 10 times a game. How he is overlooked and underplayed is beyond me. Look at the "fake out of their jockstraps" punt return. It worked because of Tavon's reputation. Mike Martz must shake his head and pound down another tall glass of Johnny Walker Black everytime he watches our games, licken his chops, dreaming about what plays he could come up with if he had Tavon's talent and he was the OC.

 

[Memphis Ram]

Not to pick on you but this statement is puzzling to me and I've seen it used many times to try to explain why AD has been struggling.

Drew Brees - 6'
Aaron Rodgers - 6' 2"
Matthew Stafford - 6' 2"
RGIII - 6' 2"

I wonder when they have a bad game if fans on message boards of those teams rationalize that it's because of their height that they're struggling? The difference I see between AD and the above mentioned QB's is that they all have strong arms and he doesn't. It's not his height that's causing problems for him, it's his weak arm and his inexperience.

I thought the point was that he was struggling to see Tavon like the broadcasters last week said someone in the Rams organization told them. That part seemed like a valid point to me, as it's difficult to recall instances where 5' 8 1/2" tall WRs thrived with a short QB.

 

[RamWoodie]

The thing with Tavon Austin is the Rams have not caught on to how to deploy him. I think they need to have him on the field a lot more because when teams see him it's like radar...they will take note of where he is. PUT THE GUY OUT THERE...WR1, WR2, Slot, backfield...but have him on the field 25-40 plays.

I believe if they do that they'll get better production from him.

 

[LACHAMP46]

So, are you saying those who didn't think it was a bad pick aren't professional? Or are you wondering who exactly called it a good pick? Or something else entirely?

I find it unlikely, that 31 other GM's, whom I'd consider professionals in the field of talent evaluation, would trade a 1st & 2nd round pick for a 5'8, 176 lbs slot wr/return man....he was overvalued by our FO...and until he puts up some stats, will be viewed as a wasted pick....

 

[V3]

Do the people that keep saying the Rams should have Tavon doing all these different things think the Rams haven't thought of that? If they haven't, they should be fired. That being said, I don't think they're having Tavon do all these different routes because Tavon isn't showing in practice that he CAN. Every play Tavon does is very basic and simple. That's most likely for a reason.

 

[Boffo97]

I find it unlikely, that 31 other GM's, whom I'd consider professionals in the field of talent evaluation, would trade a 1st & 2nd round pick for a 5'8, 176 lbs slot wr/return man....he was overvalued by our FO...and until he puts up some stats, will be viewed as a wasted pick....

Well, when I'm talking about professionals, I'm talking about draft analysts. I don't know if I saw the Rams get any bad grades for 2013.

As far as the 31 other GMs go... all we can conclusively know is that 8 of them didn't want Tavon within the first 8 picks. I find it a lot more likely that without the Rams picking him there that he would have been picked around that point anyway (and I think the Rams traded up because another team was expected to take him if they didn't) than him falling.

Sure, he has to start putting up stats. The question remains how much of that is on the OC (even if I have a slightly higher opinion of Schotty than some. Slightly.) and how much is on him? I know I'd still rather hope that he does prove himself worth the pick.

 

[RamzFanz]

Do the people that keep saying the Rams should have Tavon doing all these different things think the Rams haven't thought of that? If they haven't, they should be fired. That being said, I don't think they're having Tavon do all these different routes because Tavon isn't showing in practice that he CAN. Every play Tavon does is very basic and simple. That's most likely for a reason.

Anyone who thinks TA couldn't be huge is probably just not judging his body of work fairly.

He is as explosive as a player comes. He is also unique and needs to be treated that way at all times. He's like Barry Sanders. Barry was worthless when he was touched at the line or before but unstoppable with a hole where he could get up to speed OR where there was blocking that he could navigate through.

If you give TA the ball WITH blocking, he'll destroy teams. He needs to get up to speed and be able to hide behind the first blocks. Then, he's lights out.

IMHO, you should have 10 plays a game designed solely to spring TA with blocking if that be ST, WR, or RB.

A) Get him the ball
B) Block so he can get up to speed. Yes, it's hard, but the payoff is worth it.

Every time he fails, I see no blocking or he's used in silly ways like up the middle.

If the Rams make a run from here on out, it will involve TA IMHO. It will also include Bailey in a big way and Britt.

The talent is there. They do ALL things well with receivers if they design to their talents.

 

[V3]

Anyone who thinks TA couldn't be huge is probably just not judging his body of work fairly.

He is as explosive as a player comes. He is also unique and needs to be treated that way at all times. He's like Barry Sanders. Barry was worthless when he was touched at the line or before but unstoppable with a hole where he could get up to speed OR where there was blocking that he could navigate through.

If you give TA the ball WITH blocking, he'll destroy teams. He needs to get up to speed and be able to hide behind the first blocks. Then, he's lights out.

IMHO, you should have 10 plays a game designed solely to spring TA with blocking if that be ST, WR, or RB.

A) Get him the ball
B) Block so he can get up to speed. Yes, it's hard, but the payoff is worth it.

Every time he fails, I see no blocking or he's used in silly ways like up the middle.

If the Rams make a run from here on out, it will involve TA IMHO. It will also include Bailey in a big way and Britt.

The talent is there. They do ALL things well with receivers if they design to their talents.

Sorry, that's an insult to Barry Sanders. He's nothing like Sanders. Sanders could break tackles. Tavon goes down with first contact. Sanders was also smart.

Tavon is not unique. There are lots of football players that are both fast and quick. That's all he has. The problem is the other skills needed by a WR aren't developing or he never had them. Better scheming would help but it'll only go so far and we shouldn't need an offensive genius to get Tavon to even contribute when they spent so much to get him. Tavon is supposed to be a playmaker. Playmakers make things work when they shouldn't. They make other around them better. There are times when even Sanders wouldn't be able to get much out of Schotty's calls but this is not just because of Schotty. Not even close. And I'll say it again, there's probably a good reason Tavon isn't being used at different WR spots with different route trees.

 

[Yamahopper]

I don't have a problem with TA or the pick.

It's this getting him in space thing. That's the idea for every WR/ pass catcher in the league. Get Britt, Bailey, Cook etc. in space good things happen.
Easier said than done.

 

[jrry32]

Sorry, that's an insult to Barry Sanders. He's nothing like Sanders. Sanders could break tackles. Tavon goes down with first contact. Sanders was also smart.

Tavon is not unique. There are lots of football players that are both fast and quick. That's all he has. The problem is the other skills needed by a WR aren't developing or he never had them. Better scheming would help but it'll only go so far and we shouldn't need an offensive genius to get Tavon to even contribute when they spent so much to get him. Tavon is supposed to be a playmaker. Playmakers make things work when they shouldn't. They make other around them better. There are times when even Sanders wouldn't be able to get much out of Schotty's calls but this is not just because of Schotty. Not even close. And I'll say it again, there's probably a good reason Tavon isn't being used at different WR spots with different route trees.

Tavon isn't Barry Sanders. Just not a fair comparison to make.

But Tavon is unique. There are not many players with his combination of speed and quickness. As far as Tavon's skills not existing or not developing, I think you're wrong on that.

 

[Ballhawk]

I don't know why they drafted him. It's like they forgot who they had as OC.