leaving return yards aside, i think his rushing totals could have an impact on his overall production, depending on how much action he sees in that capacity...
since he is sometimes compared to a smaller percy harvin or randall cobb (he is admittedly smaller, but could be used in a similar capacity), it could be instructive to look at their rushing numbers...
harvin - in his first two seasons, he "only" had a combined 33 rushes... in 2009 he had 135 yards, averaging 9 YPC with no TDs, in 2010 he had 107 yards averaging 5.9 YPC with 1 TD (missing three games in the two years). in 2011 he had about 50% more carries than first two years combined, with 51 for 342 yards at a 6.7 YPC clip with 2 TDs (16 games). Last season, he had 22 carries for 96 yards, falling to 4.4 YPC with 1 TD, but that was in just 9 games... even with the lower YPC compared to previous seasons, prorated over a full season would have been just under 40 carries (again, tracking for more than first two seasons combined) for 170 yards and 2 TDs. NON-prorated, that is an average of 26.5 carries a season for 170 yards and 1 TD over his first four seasons. including a prorated 2012 - total of 123 carries, 754 yards and 5 TDs, yields an uptick to a bit more than 30 carries a season, 188.5 yards and 1.25 TD season. BTW, harvin finished 25, 20 & 7 at WR first three years, 43 in 2012, but prorated would have finished with same amount of fantasy points as 2011 when he was 7. his receiving totals, to see how manageable they might be for austin to approximate (austin is a somewhat polarizing player and this is seemingly a contentious issue)... in 2009 (60-790-6), 2010 (71-868-5), 2011 (87-967-6) and 2012 (62-677-3 in 9 games, prorated = 110-1,204-5)... even leaving out the stellar prorated reception projection for last seasons, harvin had a noticeable uptick in receiving totals from 2009-2010-2011... worth noting that in the first two years, even before the jump in rushing and receiving totals, he did well enough to finish 20 and 25 among WRs...
for perspective, if austin were to have three rushes every two games, that would be close to 25 carries in a season (if he plays 16 games)... no guarantee he will be as effective (harvin might have comparable speed and quickness and about 20 lbs bigger with stronger upper body), but more touches via rushing can only help the bottom line (unless it increases his exposure to injury?)... as to receiving, if austin were to average about four receptions a game, that would put him roughly in line and in same ball park as harvin's first few years... T.Y. hilton was one of top rookie WRs last year, and had 50-861-7 (with a robust 17.2 YPR)... he finished 25.
cobb - with his 2012 breakout i forgot he was used sparsely as a rookie in 2011 behind jennings, jordy nelson (HIS breakout), james jones, et al... at least it wouldn't seem chris givens (who imo could be in for a nice 2013 season after leading team as a rookie in 2012), austin pettis and brian quick represent as formidable a collective obstacle to austin receiving immediate time and action as cobb's GB counterparts... cobb had a negligible 2 carries for 5 yards as a rookie, and was 10-132 as a soph (no rushing TDs in NFL yet)... receiving he was just 25-375-1 with 95 rank in 2011, exploding for 80-954-8 in 2012, and a 17 finish... cobb is listed at 5'10" 190, so similar size to harvin, few inches and 10-15 pounds heavier than austin.
below is table from football outsiders where you can see WR rushing totals from 2012... harvin was in a class by himself with 21 rushes (again, in just 9 games)... cobb (10) and dexter mccluster (12) were the only other WRs with 10 or more rushes...
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/wr
this reminds me of a stat cited in an article i read recently...
http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2013/5/29/4373488/st-louis-rams-offense-tavon-austin-wide-receiver-running-back-playbook
this was the business excerpt, an aaron schatz quote embedded in the article...
"...Since 1990, the only WR with over 25 carries from RB position are Harvin (52, 2011) and Metcalf (28, 1995)."
metcalf was a blast from the past name i hadn't heard in a while when he came to mind recently as a comp player, before reading this article...
right after, the writer of the article notes that mccluster (sometimes invoked as ANOTHER austin comp, but imo there are some important differences... while dimunitive, not in the same class speed/explosiveness-wise) ran the ball 114 times in 2011 (?), but that schatz was specifically referring to a WR rushing the ball FROM THE RB POSITION, which perhaps mccluster wasn't primarily?
in the comments section below this article, i found a couple observations that were intriguing and potentially germane to this conversation... mainly, i had assumed austin was a prep WR, possibly intuitivelly just because he seemed so natural at it... the fact that he had a RB background, COULD perhaps increase the chance rams look to exploit that facet of his multi-dimensional talent a bit more than if this were not the case?
in response to a comment that got the ball rolling on this sub-subject, checking for confirmation on reports someone read noting that backfield injuries were responsible for him being used more at RB as a senior, unlike prior seasons at w. virginia...
FIRST...
"WVU did have injuries in the backfield and he was initially brought in to help with that but it worked so well that it stayed in the playbook (if there was such a thing). Austin’s ability as a RB is not really a surprise since he was a prolific RB in high school and it was only after he was told at WVU he would have to sit behind Noel Devine or he could convert to a WR. Austin wanted to play right away so he reluctantly agreed! He made an outstanding decision!"
AND ANOTHER...
"Devine may have had the best lateral mobility I’ve ever seen on a college football field. There was no way anyone was taking carries from him, and it was in everyone’s best interest to get Austin on the field immediately, so Austin became a WR. When Devine graduated, Austin chose to stay at WR due to the increased draft potential he could garner as a WR. Not many NFL teams will consider drafting a 170 pound RB. Devine is a testament to that. Devine suffered a foot injury in a game versus LSU his senior year, and never fully recovered from it. He’s returning kicks in Canada now, but I’m not sure he’s the same player he was for 3+ years at WVU.
As for the question of who is better out of the backfield? The three most elusive RB’s I’ve witnessed are Barry Sanders, Devine, and Austin. I believe Austin is slightly better than Devine at setting up his blocks, and he is probably a more patient runner, although both were extremely patient behind the line. Austin has better field awareness and is more likely to get to the sideline before getting hit. But the biggest advantage Austin has over Devine is open field speed. After years of watching Pat White and Steve Slaton run away from everyone once in the open field, it was shocking to see how often Devine was caught from behind. The first 20 yards were like a nitro boost, but the top speed was not dominating. Austin, on the other hand, creates separation and continues to extend the gap between himself and those pursuing him all the way to the end zone. The only flaws you can find in Austin’s open field running (nit-picking) are his tendency to try to make a move on defenders chasing him downfield as opposed to simply outrunning them, and the 3-5 unnecessary yards he occasionally leaves on the field when he wisely ducks out of bounds to avoid contact. Austin holds virtually every record a high school RB can hold in the state of Maryland. Had he played four years of RB at WVU, he’d probably hold most of the records there too. I believe he’s a better RB than Devine, and he’s also one of the best WR’s ever to come through WVU. However he is utilized he will have an impact. Enjoy your shiny new weapon, Rams!"
* austin's mind boggling prep resume from his west virginia profile...
High School
- Coached by Lawrence Smith at Dunbar High in Baltimore
- Two-time Maryland Consensus Offensive Player of the Year
- Consensus first team all-state
- Set Maryland records for career points (790), touchdowns (123), total offensive yards (9,258)and rushing yards (7,962)
- Led Dunbar High to three consecutive Class 1A state titles
- As a senior, rushed for 2,660 yards and scored 34 touchdowns on just 218 carries for 12.2 yards per carry average Also returned 12 punts for 446 yards and a pair of touchdowns
for comparison purposes, below is excerpt of virginia prep legend harvin's resume taken from his florida profile (keeping in mind that they probably shouldn't be compared too literally, since it sounds like harvin was primarily lined up at WR, and austin at RB, but just as an illustration of their respective general explosiveness relative to peers)...
Finished his prep career with 75 catches for 1,313 yards with 14 touchdown receptions...Also rushed for 504 yards and 13 additional scores his senior season...Recorded a total of 33 touchdowns as a senior...Caught 58 passes for 1,016 yards (17.5 per catch) and 17 touchdowns while rushing 68 times for 726 yards (10.7 per carry) and 10 touchdowns as a junior en route to helping lead Landstown to Group AAA state championship...