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Tavon Austin (2 Viewers)

So cmon, he's gotta produce more than this

what's his trade value? Are teams still enamored with him or has he lost his luster?

 
He received two targets yesterday (both caught for 33 yards). For those that saw the game, was he even on the field much? Was there any separation on those catches?

 
OC Zed said:
He received two targets yesterday (both caught for 33 yards). For those that saw the game, was he even on the field much? Was there any separation on those catches?
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I watched the first half, and he was not on the field that much. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see his 2 targets.

Hopefully, this was just a case of the Rams easing him in from his injury. Otherwise, I'm pretty confused by his involvement.

 
bigmarc27 said:
Henry Ford said:
Are we in full-on dynasty drop mode, I assume?
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I can't do it yet - it took me three years to drop Greg Little when I wasted a draft pick on him, Austin gets through next year at least.
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Going to hold until I see if the offseason brings changes at OC and QB to help his usage. He's still talented. I can afford to sit him on my bench with the other prospects (Moncrief and P Richardson).

 
Rotoworld:

Tavon Austin managed 46 yards on five carries and caught two passes for 14 yards in the Rams' Week 14 win over the Redskins.
Austin legitimately looked like the best player on the field in this one. He was dynamic as a punt returner, bringing back four punts for 143 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown. The Rams just may be figuring out how to use the former first-round pick, though we don't expect hm to carry much fantasy weight.

Dec 7 - 5:39 PM
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Austin looked good, but our defense is awful. He needs someone creative to get him the ball in space to look like that all the time.

 
jurb26 said:
Adam Harstad said:
Tavon Austin is what people hoped Cordarrelle Patterson would be. Except, you know... shorter.
Click to expand...
People hoped Patterson would be a punt returner?
Click to expand...
He takes handoffs. He runs actual NFL routes and catches the football. He makes plays in space. He is electric returning kicks. He plays more than three snaps, something Patterson hasn't done in weeks. He's a gadget player who can add a bit of electricity to an offense while he's still busy learning how to be an NFL-caliber player. Basically, he's what Cordarrelle Patterson should be at this point, only shorter.

 
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Adam Harstad said:
jurb26 said:
Adam Harstad said:
Tavon Austin is what people hoped Cordarrelle Patterson would be. Except, you know... shorter.
Click to expand...
People hoped Patterson would be a punt returner?
Click to expand...
He takes handoffs. He runs actual NFL routes and catches the football. He makes plays in space. He is electric returning kicks. He plays more than three snaps, something Patterson hasn't done in weeks. He's a gadget player who can add a bit of electricity to an offense while he's still busy learning how to be an NFL-caliber player. Basically, he's what Cordarrelle Patterson should be at this point, only shorter.
Click to expand...
He's not a WR1. Not even close. People are hoping Patterson becomes a WR1. Not a gadget player.
 
jurb26 said:
Adam Harstad said:
jurb26 said:
Adam Harstad said:
Tavon Austin is what people hoped Cordarrelle Patterson would be. Except, you know... shorter.
Click to expand...
People hoped Patterson would be a punt returner?
Click to expand...
He takes handoffs. He runs actual NFL routes and catches the football. He makes plays in space. He is electric returning kicks. He plays more than three snaps, something Patterson hasn't done in weeks. He's a gadget player who can add a bit of electricity to an offense while he's still busy learning how to be an NFL-caliber player. Basically, he's what Cordarrelle Patterson should be at this point, only shorter.
Click to expand...
He's not a WR1. Not even close. People are hoping Patterson becomes a WR1. Not a gadget player.
Click to expand...
I did not mean what Patterson would be eventually. I meant what Patterson would be by now, (direct quote: "he's what Cordarrelle Patterson should be at this point, only shorter"- emphasis added). When Patterson was coming in, I always assumed he'd need the Vincent Jackson / Brian Quick treatment- a long lead time to get up to speed given how ridiculously raw he was. But with his talent with the ball in his hand, I hoped he could at least make himself useful to a franchise in the meantime while learning his craft. Sort of like Tavon Austin is- he's not a finished product, but he's at least making himself useful to his franchise while learning his craft.

Honestly, the "true WR1" stuff seems sillier to me with each passing year. Yeah, the gold standard is one of those guys who can line up on the outside and break down coverage against top cornerbacks without any extraordinary scheme help. But the NFL is diversifying and we're seeing more and more guys who aren't producing in your typical ways, but who are straight-up producing. Wes Welker, Randall Cobb, and Percy Harvin aren't what you'd call "true #1s", but they've all put up numbers. Brandin Cooks probably won't ever be one of those mythical "true #1s", but 62.3 yards per game as a rookie is pretty fantastic no matter how you slice it, and New Orleans obviously drafted him with something in mind. T.Y. Hilton's not your prototypical "true #1" and a lot of people are high on guys like Hakeem Nicks and Donte Moncrief because they think it's only a matter of time before they steal that "true #1 job" and put Hilton back where he belongs as a "complementary part" or "role player"... but in the meantime, Hilton's well on his way to a 1600 yard season.

I'm a lot lower on Austin than I was a year ago, simply because he's taking a long time to do anything on the field except provide an occasional spark. While he doesn't need to be a "true #1", he at least needs to have a defined role, and right now he doesn't. But it's still a bit early to be giving up on him entirely, I think.

 
Adam Harstad said:
jurb26 said:
Adam Harstad said:
jurb26 said:
Adam Harstad said:
Tavon Austin is what people hoped Cordarrelle Patterson would be. Except, you know... shorter.
Click to expand...
People hoped Patterson would be a punt returner?
Click to expand...
He takes handoffs. He runs actual NFL routes and catches the football. He makes plays in space. He is electric returning kicks. He plays more than three snaps, something Patterson hasn't done in weeks. He's a gadget player who can add a bit of electricity to an offense while he's still busy learning how to be an NFL-caliber player. Basically, he's what Cordarrelle Patterson should be at this point, only shorter.
Click to expand...
He's not a WR1. Not even close. People are hoping Patterson becomes a WR1. Not a gadget player.
Click to expand...
I did not mean what Patterson would be eventually. I meant what Patterson would be by now, (direct quote: "he's what Cordarrelle Patterson should be at this point, only shorter"- emphasis added). When Patterson was coming in, I always assumed he'd need the Vincent Jackson / Brian Quick treatment- a long lead time to get up to speed given how ridiculously raw he was. But with his talent with the ball in his hand, I hoped he could at least make himself useful to a franchise in the meantime while learning his craft. Sort of like Tavon Austin is- he's not a finished product, but he's at least making himself useful to his franchise while learning his craft.

Honestly, the "true WR1" stuff seems sillier to me with each passing year. Yeah, the gold standard is one of those guys who can line up on the outside and break down coverage against top cornerbacks without any extraordinary scheme help. But the NFL is diversifying and we're seeing more and more guys who aren't producing in your typical ways, but who are straight-up producing. Wes Welker, Randall Cobb, and Percy Harvin aren't what you'd call "true #1s", but they've all put up numbers. Brandin Cooks probably won't ever be one of those mythical "true #1s", but 62.3 yards per game as a rookie is pretty fantastic no matter how you slice it, and New Orleans obviously drafted him with something in mind. T.Y. Hilton's not your prototypical "true #1" and a lot of people are high on guys like Hakeem Nicks and Donte Moncrief because they think it's only a matter of time before they steal that "true #1 job" and put Hilton back where he belongs as a "complementary part" or "role player"... but in the meantime, Hilton's well on his way to a 1600 yard season.

I'm a lot lower on Austin than I was a year ago, simply because he's taking a long time to do anything on the field except provide an occasional spark. While he doesn't need to be a "true #1", he at least needs to have a defined role, and right now he doesn't. But it's still a bit early to be giving up on him entirely, I think.
Click to expand...
There's no doubt that you don't need to be a WR1 to produce in the NFL. The point I'm simply making is that true WR1s generally transcend situational need to become producers. Even if it means a WR1 on a poor team producing WR2 fantasy numbers. It is a gold standard and for good reason it's tough to be a WR1 in the NFL.
 
I'm a lot lower on Austin than I was a year ago, simply because he's taking a long time to do anything on the field except provide an occasional spark. While he doesn't need to be a "true #1", he at least needs to have a defined role, and right now he doesn't. But it's still a bit early to be giving up on him entirely, I think.
Click to expand...
These occasional 'sparks' are nice to see but I'm resigned to waiting for his contract to be up and go to a better situation like Emmanuel Sanders did.

 
Out of curiosity I looked up comparable 2013 WRs.

1.7 Tavon Auston - 66 catches, 618 yards, 4* TDs (*2 return TDs)

1.27 DeAndre Hopkins - 116 catches, 1892 yards, 8 TDs

2.2 Justin Hunter - 109 catches, 852 yards, 7 TDs

2.9 Robert Woods - 92 catches, 1173 yards, 6 TDs

3.12 Terrance Williams - 74 catches, 1218 yards, 11 TDs

3.14 Keenan Allen - 145 catches, 1811 yards, 12 TDs

3.17 Markus Wheaton - 49 catches (43 this year), 598 yards (534 this year), 2 TDs

3.30 Stedman Bailey - 39 catches, 548 yards, 1 TD

5.11 Kenny Stills - 79 catches, 1355 yards, 8 TDs

I won't call Austin a bust yet, but it sure seems like the Rams overreached terribly for a kick returner / gimmick player. It's almost as bad as when Miami picked Ted Ginn at 1.9.

 
Adam Harstad said:
I'm a lot lower on Austin than I was a year ago, simply because he's taking a long time to do anything on the field except provide an occasional spark. While he doesn't need to be a "true #1", he at least needs to have a defined role, and right now he doesn't. But it's still a bit early to be giving up on him entirely, I think.
Click to expand...
I think the main thing with Austin is that he's not very good at using his quickness while running routes. He needs to be more like Desean, who is good at disguising his route until he makes a lightning-fast move, or bursts out on a deep route. Desean also sets up his screen and button-hook routes so he's catching the ball on his toes, so he can catch the ball and make his first move simultaneously. Austin's weak route running negates a lot of his quickness in the passing game.

 
flysack said:
Out of curiosity I looked up comparable 2013 WRs.

1.7 Tavon Auston - 66 catches, 618 yards, 4* TDs (*2 return TDs)

I won't call Austin a bust yet, but it sure seems like the Rams overreached terribly for a kick returner / gimmick player. It's almost as bad as when Miami picked Ted Ginn at 1.9.
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Certainly over-drafted but I wouldn't call him a bust in NFL terms.

Here's Andrew Hawkins' numbers through his first two years:

74/796/4

Hawkins was 5 years older than Tavon when he came into the league.

It will take time but I believe eventually Tavon becomes a fantasy relevant player in PPR.

 
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cstu said:
Don Quixote said:
Schotty to UGA: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12133244/georgia-bulldogs-hire-brian-schottenheimer-offensive-coordinator

Interested to see who they hire. Thought a lot of his problem was use.
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Great news - at least we'll finally find out if the OC was to blame.
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He's a kid that goes down to minimal contact - arm tackles bring him down easy. I don't care how fast you are, in the NFL, you're gonna get touched. I never liked him coming out of college and avoided him like the plague in rookie drafts. Of course, I was really high on Cordarrelle Patterson that year, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about. :shrug:

 
Rotoworld:

Rams OC Frank Cignetti said he plans to get Tavon Austin more involved.

Austin has been a gadget player his first two seasons. He's shown nothing to believe he'll develop into a featured receiver, and doesn't project as higher than the No. 3 option. Austin is entering a make-or-break year in 2015.

Source: Jim Thomas on Twitter
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He sucks and they don't know how to use him to whatever minimal capabilities he might possess. The only reason I still have him rostered is because I drafted him over Eddie Lacy and I'm too stubborn.

 
"Focus is focus. It's going to be a different story this year," the wide receiver declares.

He admits last year's situation on offense -- in which injuries forced the Rams through several quarterbacks under former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer -- left him with few opportunities. This offseason, he's optimistic.

"Basically, it depends on opportunity," Austin says. "Last year, I didn't have too many opportunities out there. Different offensive coordinator, different quarterback. I'm just thankful -- things are working out in my favor right now and hopefully, everything just keeps going my way."

With new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti's system, Austin feels his role is changing.

"He definitely comes and talks to me a lot, asking me what I see out there, what I like," Austin says. "He tries to get me a little more involved in our offense. So I'm definitely happy with that."

Comparing that involvement now with past seasons, however, Austin modifies his statement -- yes, he felt he was involved before, but that now might be "his time." His confidence is greater after two years in the league. He felt more focused heading into OTAs this June.

"I feel like he (Foles) looks for me a lot," the wide receiver says. "Just still little things that we've got to piece together, and we feel like we'll be OK -- (not just) with me, just with all the wide receivers, and we'll definitely have a successful season."
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http://www.foxsports.com/midwest/story/st-louis-rams-wr-tavon-austin-it-s-going-to-be-a-different-story-this-year-061915
 
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bigmarc27 said:
He sucks and they don't know how to use him to whatever minimal capabilities he might possess. The only reason I still have him rostered is because I drafted him over Eddie Lacy and I'm too stubborn.
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Yeap. Luckily I got LeVeon Bell with the 4th pick as I needed RB back, but I wonder if I could've gotten Lacy AND Bell.

 
I don't believe Tavon Austin sucks. I just think he is being mishandled and he is not a very bright football player. The physical talent is there. I wouldn't pay much to get him but I think he has nowhere to go but up. I made the mistake of taking him 1.01 the year he was drafted. At the time, I paid less attention to scheme fit and opportunity. In the right system, I think he could thrive. Plus the playbook has to be severely dumbed down.

 
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