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Tavon Austin (1 Viewer)

cloppbeast said:
Aside from the Jones quote, the article explains some reasons for optimism, in that at least they have a plan to use him on offense. Yeah, it's a may fluff piece so you can ignore it. But the Dallas traded a 6th round pick for him to take on his $5 million salary, expensive for a kick returner. This implies they will use him as more than a special teamer. How much more, IDK. I'm not telling anybody to trade their first round rookie pick for him. He's just worth a flyer. 
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$3 million

On March 15, 2018 Austin signed a re-worked contract.  The deal is a 1 year contract worth $7 million in base value, and up to $8 million total.  Austin received $5m in virtual guarantees through roster bonus and guaranteed salary.  Austin can earn up to $2m in per game roster bonuses. Austin was traded to the Cowboys on April 28, 2018. The Cowboys are responsible for $3 million of his $7 million contract.

Overthecap.com

 
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Cowboys OC Scott Linehan expects Tavon Austin to get most of his snaps at receiver.

"We’ll use him for a lot of things, but he’s a receiver first," said Linehan. "Some of his skill set is as an outside receiver, but he can move around." This throws shade on reports the Cowboys plan to use Austin in a Lance Dunbar role. Austin should see an uptick from the last year's 81 touches, but remains unlikely to make a fantasy impact.

Source: Brandon George on Twitter 

May 12 - 4:09 PM
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Tavon Austin - WR - Cowboys

Dak Prescott said Tavon Austin will be used all over the formation with the Cowboys.

"Coaches have a great plan, whether it's getting him out of the backfield, lining him up at X, lining him up at Z, putting him in the slot," Prescott said. "He's a guy we get the ball in his hands, he'll score some points and get a bunch of yards in this offense." Earlier this month, EVP Stephen Jones said Austin is a "web back" who they want to get "a dozen to two dozen" touches per game. Consider us skeptical, but the Cowboys are shoveling as much coal into the hype train as possible.

Source: Jon Machota on Twitter

May 24 - 11:47 AM

https://twitter.com/jonmachota/status/999669585912578048

 
Skeletore Eh said:
Tavon Austin - WR - Cowboys

Dak Prescott said Tavon Austin will be used all over the formation with the Cowboys.

"Coaches have a great plan, whether it's getting him out of the backfield, lining him up at X, lining him up at Z, putting him in the slot," Prescott said. "He's a guy we get the ball in his hands, he'll score some points and get a bunch of yards in this offense." Earlier this month, EVP Stephen Jones said Austin is a "web back" who they want to get "a dozen to two dozen" touches per game. Consider us skeptical, but the Cowboys are shoveling as much coal into the hype train as possible.

Source: Jon Machota on Twitter

May 24 - 11:47 AM

https://twitter.com/jonmachota/status/999669585912578048
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This has been said time and time again about a lot of players of his skillset. I am trying to remember a time in which it became a reality. 

 
Skeletore Eh said:
can't deny your point, but considering his cost (he's a free agent in most leagues) is he worth a stash?  all it costs is a roster spot
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I am sure he will have a role but I would not anticipate much FF production. Depending on game flow he will probably be sprinkled in the backfield and have a few chances in space in the passing game. 

 
I grabbed him in a couple dynasty leagues.  Why not?  If he busts he's an easy dump, but if he dazzles then it could be.. well.. dazzling.  :D  

 
King of the Jungle said:
This has been said time and time again about a lot of players of his skillset. I am trying to remember a time in which it became a reality. 
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Darren Sproles, Le'Veon Bell, Tyreek Hill, Aaron Hernandez, Ty Montgomery and Tarik Cohen are a couple of players that come to mind immediately as players that have lined up in the backfield, split out wide and in the slot. 

 
Dr. Octopus said:
Darren Sproles, Le'Veon Bell, Tyreek Hill, Aaron Hernandez, Ty Montgomery and Tarik Cohen are a couple of players that come to mind immediately as players that have lined up in the backfield, split out wide and in the slot. 
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Correct. All those players bring a much higher skillset than Austin IMO. He is more of a gadget player and those typically do not have a large portion of the offense devoted to them. 

 
King of the Jungle said:
Correct. All those players bring a much higher skillset than Austin IMO. He is more of a gadget player and those typically do not have a large portion of the offense devoted to them. 
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Harvin is probably the one on most recent memory. Duke Johnson fits too but it seems to be easier to succeed if you are a rb masquerading as a wr, not the other way around. Plus, Austin hasn’t been particularly good at any point in his career. Austin is a better Cordorelle Patterson and a worse Percy Harvin, that means he will probably be unusable. The only teams recently who seem to make these kinds of guys shine are the ones who draft them with a purpose in mind

 
His FFPC rookie draft ADP is 5th-6th round in the same range of luminaries such as Samaje Perine and J.D McKissic. At that price, he is worth a flyer to see how the Cowboys line him up in the preseason. If he gets 12-15 touches a game in the regular season he is worthy as a flex play on bye weeks. Figure that he can take it to the house from any part of the field once every four games and it's a decent investment. 

 
the lone star said:
lol right. I highly doubt that. The team would have to innovate A LOT for that to happen. Like go with 2 RB sets, and audible the RB from the backfield to the LOS at times. Don't see that happening. Would be pretty dope though.
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You forgot to bump the Michael Gallup and Allen Hurns threads

 
I'm really interested to see what Austin can do in camp.

Much rather have him or Thompson in the slot as opposed to Beasley (again, if they look good in camp).

 
Football Jones said:
I'm really interested to see what Austin can do in camp.

Much rather have him or Thompson in the slot as opposed to Beasley (again, if they look good in camp).
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Whats wrong with Beasley?

I see Beasley played in 15 games last season, but he only started in 4 of them. He was 4th on the team in targets, but his performance wasn't as good as it had been the previous two seasons. He did still score 4 TD though.

To me this is the key to Austins opportunity. If he can beat out Beasley then I think there are enough targets for Austin to perhaps be worth having. If not then he is blocked behind Gallup, Hurns, Thompson, Williams.

Interesting that ourlads lists Austin as the starting slot WR right now.  Is this based off of something in Cowboys news recently?

I wonder about Williams due to his recent car crash incident. He hasn't been all that good prior to this either. I think there is a good chance for Gallup and Hurns to take the start from him, but I don't follow the Cowboys as closely as I do other teams.

 
Biabreakable said:
Whats wrong with Beasley?

I see Beasley played in 15 games last season, but he only started in 4 of them. He was 4th on the team in targets, but his performance wasn't as good as it had been the previous two seasons. He did still score 4 TD though.

To me this is the key to Austins opportunity. If he can beat out Beasley then I think there are enough targets for Austin to perhaps be worth having. If not then he is blocked behind Gallup, Hurns, Thompson, Williams.

Interesting that ourlads lists Austin as the starting slot WR right now.  Is this based off of something in Cowboys news recently?

I wonder about Williams due to his recent car crash incident. He hasn't been all that good prior to this either. I think there is a good chance for Gallup and Hurns to take the start from him, but I don't follow the Cowboys as closely as I do other teams.
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There's nothing really wrong with Beasley. He's just a guy, IMO. A mediocre starting slot WR.

The downside is he's not very dynamic & without a true #1 receiver right now, we need playmakers since our philosophy is to pound the rock. It'll help keep Ds honest.

I've seen Austin listed as the starting slot & I'm thinking if that's actually the case, Cowboys' brass must be thinking along the same lines I am. I'm also curious to see what Thompson can do.

I'm not sure the majority of Dallas fans would agree, but I'm in favor of trading or cutting Beasley if Austin & Thompson look good in camp (although, I haven't looked to see what the cap savings would be).

 
BTW, I'm also in favor of cutting Williams, but there's no cap savings.

I don't care if he's the best blocking WR in the history of the NFL. Williams makes a decent #4 or 5 WR I suppose, but he's drastically overpaid.

 
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NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal reports Tavon Austin was frequently lined up "out wide" on the first day of Cowboys training camp.

The Cowboys have talked up using "web back" Austin all over the formation. That apparently includes the outside for a team with one of the league's sorriest receiver corps. If Austin is going to come into fantasy value this season, it will be through blunt force usage, and likely limited to PPR formats.

Source: Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter 

Jul 26 - 3:20 PM
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I can't believe he is mostly going undrafted with how many touches he is going to get. He's going to get damn near 300 touches. 

 
I have him in a league that lists him as RB. If he returns kicks too, I get points for that, too. Could be a stupid scorer in this specific format that I just acquired him in. Why can't you send him deep? If anything, you feel like he has a better time avoiding a jam coming out of the backfield.

Don't know who the Cowboys have at tight end. Blocking tight ends are severely underrated. You have to sustain success.

 
Tavon Austin on a wheel route? I mean, why not, right? Not every week, because there are some bad people playing linebacker in the NFL. LOL.

 
I’m not expecting top 10 numbers or anything but considering he is on no ones radar you have to imagine the value is there in spades. 

 
Elevencents said:
I’m not expecting top 10 numbers or anything but considering he is on no ones radar you have to imagine the value is there in spades. 
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Yeah, especially in deeper leagues- why not take him super late. After a game or two, if he isn't getting touches than he's the guy to cut for the hot WW pick-up.

 
Ilov80s said:
In all seriousness, The Cowboys offense is wide open for a secondary weapon. There is a chance Austin could have a Duke Johnsonish season.
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Yeah... was gonna say.  All the jokes are fine but they have no real reliable WR or TE.  Hurns is intriguing given his history, but aside from him... Austin is interesting.  I'm a big-time buyer in best-ball leagues and will probably snag him in traditional redrafts once I feel pretty comfortable at RB.

 
Ilov80s said:
Yeah, especially in deeper leagues- why not take him super late. After a game or two, if he isn't getting touches than he's the guy to cut for the hot WW pick-up.
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Answer: Because there are other guys you can take super late who are more likely to have significant upside. He's been in the league 6 years and hasn't hit 1000 rushing+receiving yards yet. His last two seasons combined don't add up to 1000 total yards. You're about as likely to get a huge season out of Devin Hester.

How about Rod Smith (who's being selected later) as an alternative? If Elliott goes down he's immediately a solid fantasy RB, unlike Austin.

 
CalBear said:
Answer: Because there are other guys you can take super late who are more likely to have significant upside. He's been in the league 6 years and hasn't hit 1000 rushing+receiving yards yet. His last two seasons combined don't add up to 1000 total yards. You're about as likely to get a huge season out of Devin Hester.

How about Rod Smith (who's being selected later) as an alternative? If Elliott goes down he's immediately a solid fantasy RB, unlike Austin.
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I like Rod Smith a lot. The only issue with Rod is that the only way he’s likely to have any value is if Zeke is hurt so drafting him means committing to a potentially dead roster spot all year. I typically avoid handcuffs because 9 times out of 10 I just end up cutting them after week 1 or 2 for someone that broke out. With Austin there is at least a very very small chance he’s playable. It is as much a bet on how void of talent the Dallas offense is as much as any kind of bet on Austin. And again, this is a very late pick in a deep league.

 
Ilov80s said:
I like Rod Smith a lot. The only issue with Rod is that the only way he’s likely to have any value is if Zeke is hurt so drafting him means committing to a potentially dead roster spot all year. I typically avoid handcuffs because 9 times out of 10 I just end up cutting them after week 1 or 2 for someone that broke out. With Austin there is at least a very very small chance he’s playable. It is as much a bet on how void of talent the Dallas offense is as much as any kind of bet on Austin. And again, this is a very late pick in a deep league.
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Rod Smith scored more points in 2017 than Austin did. His week 13 game against the Giants (6/47/1, 5/113/1) is better than any game Austin has had in his 6-year career. 

The point is that the roster spot you use on Austin isn't free. It's taking the place of another player who might have upside. There's little evidence that Austin is capable of becoming as good as Darren Sproles, let alone Duke Johnson.

 
CalBear said:
Rod Smith scored more points in 2017 than Austin did. His week 13 game against the Giants (6/47/1, 5/113/1) is better than any game Austin has had in his 6-year career. 

The point is that the roster spot you use on Austin isn't free. It's taking the place of another player who might have upside. There's little evidence that Austin is capable of becoming as good as Darren Sproles, let alone Duke Johnson.
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I am not going out of my way to take him- I mean I basically came here to mock him. I realize how bad he has been. He is only worth drafting in the deepest of formats. My main point is that a guy like Austin will allow us to see what his role is right away where Rod Smith is the kind of player that isn't likely to provide anything unless Zeke is hurt. Depending on roster sizes, etc. those kinds of players can be difficult to carry through a season and result in burning a roster spot holding onto a backup while other plays are breaking out and getting picked up by competitors. In most leagues, you could draft Austin, see him do nothing in weeks 1 and 2, then drop him for Rod Smith. 

 
Cowboysfan8 said:
Obviously would not have happened without the Zeke suspension
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Sure, but isn't that what upside is? Do you really need Austin's 50 yard per game production, knowing that if Elliot goes down, he might go up to 70 yards per game? It's pretty clear that the better "swing for the fences" pick is the one that can produce a lot of points given the opportunity, not the one who will produce a small number of points no matter what the situation is. "Just stash him at the end of your bench, and then you can drop him later" is missing the point; the better owner in your league will already have the player you want, stashed at the end of his bench.

 
CalBear said:
Sure, but isn't that what upside is? Do you really need Austin's 50 yard per game production, knowing that if Elliot goes down, he might go up to 70 yards per game? It's pretty clear that the better "swing for the fences" pick is the one that can produce a lot of points given the opportunity, not the one who will produce a small number of points no matter what the situation is. "Just stash him at the end of your bench, and then you can drop him later" is missing the point; the better owner in your league will already have the player you want, stashed at the end of his bench.
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Nimrod Smith is just taking up space on your bench when you could be rostering players actually scoring fantasy points. 

 
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