Tavon 7th in touchdowns now....

[A55VA6]

Receiving TD's, rushing TD's, punt return TD's.. the dude does it all. "Bust" should not be used with Tavon Austin's name. If we had to re-do that draft, I still trade up and take him at that spot. He may not be a normal WR, but he's a deadly playmaker that can take over a game. Love that dude.

 

[Sleepy1711]

Receiving TD's, rushing TD's, punt return TD's.. the dude does it all. "Bust" should not be used with Tavon Austin's name. If we had to re-do that draft, I still trade up and take him at that spot. He may not be a normal WR, but he's a deadly playmaker that can take over a game. Love that dude.

That is why I bought my wife and lil boy a number 11 jerseys.

Tay awesome, that is what my 6 year old calls him.

 

[Faceplant]

Yeah, I cringed reading people chide him for being a "bust". Or the BS about him being "overdrafted". There is literally no other player in the league that offers all of what Tavon is capable of. None. Zippy. Zilch. Zero. Doughnut. THAT is why you trade up for a guy like that.

 

[nighttrain]

First player since Gale Sayers to have at least 4 rushing touchdowns, 5 receiving touchdowns and a punt return touchdown in the same season.

darn fine company!
train

 

[SuperMan28]

Good trade

 

[jrry32]

He has 817 yards and 9 TDs on offense this year. Would love for him to have a couple strong games against SF and Seattle and finish with 1000+ yards from scrimmage and 10+ offensive TDs...but that might be asking too much.

 

[moonshyne]

Great thread, thank you guys. A special player and a wonderful person. I'll add that he's been a surprise as a blocker, also. All-around player to say the least.

 

[NERamsFan]

In my opinion, the notion that he should get many more reps a game, at his size, is slightly flawed BC of the injury risk factor. The dude weighs like 180 soak and wet.

The best way to utilize him, in my opinion, is to get a big time guy like Alshon Jeffrey in free agency or get the kid Treadwell out of Ole Miss (save us some $$$) and see how they draw attention away from him, and ultimately allow his big play potential on each play to be maximized, at say 3 or 4 more touches a game. That way he'll be less prone to injury and more apt to make a "boom" play with fresh legs and suddenness against opposing D's.

Just my two rusty ole cents...

 

[RamzFanz]

Tavon doesn't have the frame for 15 touches a game. I think 10 on average would be about right.

But most of Tavon's damage has come on mis-direction plays. He's a playmaker to be sure, but IMO we should keep giving him the touches he's getting and then throw the ball downfield to him more. He's our fastest WR and it's not even close.

Uh, oh, here we go...

Tavon is fast in bursts. He isn't a top speed guy. I can't remember the last deep ball he caught. He also is too small to fight for the ball. I think maybe he has one long pass this season and that was because he juked the defender, not out ran him. Every other time he was painted and failed to catch anything that actually came to him.

He will be the first to tell you he's not a top speed guy. He's said it many times.

But hey, if he figures out how to get open, why not.

 

[RamzFanz]

He's doing exactly what I expected him to be doing. Just took a little while to get there. He's had a couple punt returns called back for penalties too... bogus penalties.

In his career? I bet he's had nearly 10 called back. He would be killing the Rams record if not for the penalties.

 

[Debacled]

This is the sad part:

Look at his targets vs some of those same guys on that list......you'll have to scroll down for awhile to get to him.......compare that to the other guys on the list above and its even more impressive. Most of those are getting more than 2x or close to it than he gets.

http://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/reports/targets/

Tavon will never be leading the league in targets, that isn't he skill set. He isn't a world beating WR, the versatility he provides in the run game and in special teams are what make him a unique weapon. He is good in space, and he doesn't get that very often playing the traditional WR role.

 

[RamzFanz]

That's the thing though, people clamoring for him to get more touches, but he's been doing really well this season.

More touches may actually reduce his impact as defenses key on him. It' just balance like everything else.

That hasn't been the case so far. More touches has equaled more production, not a drop off.

In every Rams win, he had more than 5 touches and Gurley had 20 or more.

Last game they combined for 30 which is about right to me although I would like to see a lot of TA in the first half and a lot of Gurley in the second. Gurley has like 2.9 YPC in the first half and 6.9 YPC in the second I think?

 

[A55VA6]

He has 817 yards and 9 TDs on offense this year. Would love for him to have a couple strong games against SF and Seattle and finish with 1000+ yards from scrimmage and 10+ offensive TDs...but that might be asking too much.

900 is possible, but 1k would be tough. Would be pretty awesome though.

 

[RamzFanz]

In my opinion, the notion that he should get many more reps a game, at his size, is slightly flawed BC of the injury risk factor. The dude weighs like 180 soak and wet.

The best way to utilize him, in my opinion, is to get a big time guy like Alshon Jeffrey in free agency or get the kid Treadwell out of Ole Miss (save us some $$$) and see how they draw attention away from him, and ultimately allow his big play potential on each play to be maximized, at say 3 or 4 more touches a game. That way he'll be less prone to injury and more apt to make a "boom" play with fresh legs and suddenness against opposing D's.

Just my two rusty ole cents...

The thing about Tavon, why he never missed a college game and just one practice (not injury related), and has been so durable in the NFL, is he is a master at avoiding the big hit. He changes speed, direction, uses jukes, and, if all else fails, steps out of bounds. Dude is elusive. I've noticed he gave up the stutter step he used to use. Now he just keeps the afterburners on and goes out of bounds.

I would like to see at least 10-12 touches a game, 8 running, myself.

 

[jjab360]

Receiving TD's, rushing TD's, punt return TD's.. the dude does it all. "Bust" should not be used with Tavon Austin's name. If we had to re-do that draft, I still trade up and take him at that spot. He may not be a normal WR, but he's a deadly playmaker that can take over a game. Love that dude.

It took a little while, but he's one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL, I agree he was worth the trade and the draft pick.

 

[RamzFanz]

TA needs a new player position. People sometime look at him as a bust because of his WR title. It's the least of his abilities, and that's OK. There is no WR even near him in running success. Dude just plays all out all the time no matter what he's asked to do. He has heart AND skills.

Flex?

 

[Tron]

TA needs a new player position. People sometime look at him as a bust because of his WR title. It's the least of his abilities, and that's OK. There is no WR even near him in running success. Dude just plays all out all the time no matter what he's asked to do. He has heart AND skills.

Flex?

Could pull a Jags/Denard Robinson and label him as an "offensive weapon".

 

[fearsomefour]

I cannot help but think about him working in the O when the power run game is in full effect and a grown up passing game. Austin just has another gear, even at the NFL level.
Electric player.

 

[Zaphod]

That hasn't been the case so far. More touches has equaled more production, not a drop off.

In every Rams win, he had more than 5 touches and Gurley had 20 or more.

Last game they combined for 30 which is about right to me although I would like to see a lot of TA in the first half and a lot of Gurley in the second. Gurley has like 2.9 YPC in the first half and 6.9 YPC in the second I think?

It seems to me that calling a run first defense is more natural to Boras and thus the higher and more effective involvement for both.

Watching the game against Tampa, I didn't really notice the run game suffering. I mean I knew they were stacking the box, but he was still using what the defense was doing against them. Oh that pls action fake to Britt.

No this game was perfect, and that's the point, they focus on Gurley you fake a hand off to him and give it to Tavon in motion. I loved this game, the bootlegs, the screens and the passes were all well designed and took advantage of what the defense was doing.

But I was referring to the days of Shottenheimer trying to force the ball to his new toy every chance he got, and I didn't work. Tavon is a special player but I just don't think he'll ever be our top receiver. Doesn't mean you can't line him up outside on a two WR set and draw attention to his vertical routes and freak the defense out when you motion him in and fake a reverse.

The run blocking really wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. They knew we were going to rush the ball and we still took 21 points from them in the first half. Even Mason looked great on that veer.

If I'm going to criticize, I'd say we look better rushing with tight ends than a fullback, especially in this game. The second half was boring on purpose, but that was to be expected when we had the game pretty much in hand.

I'm all about making them choose between Austin and Gurley and burning them with passes when they do, but to try to force it to him just won't help anyone.

Can't wait to see how we play the Seahawks.

 

[RamzFanz]

It seems to me that calling a run first defense is more natural to Boras and thus the higher and more effective involvement for both.

Watching the game against Tampa, I didn't really notice the run game suffering. I mean I knew they were stacking the box, but he was still using what the defense was doing against them. Oh that pls action fake to Britt.

No this game was perfect, and that's the point, they focus on Gurley you fake a hand off to him and give it to Tavon in motion. I loved this game, the bootlegs, the screens and the passes were all well designed and took advantage of what the defense was doing.

But I was referring to the days of Shottenheimer trying to force the ball to his new toy every chance he got, and I didn't work. Tavon is a special player but I just don't think he'll ever be our top receiver. Doesn't mean you can't line him up outside on a two WR set and draw attention to his vertical routes and freak the defense out when you motion him in and fake a reverse.

The run blocking really wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. They knew we were going to rush the ball and we still took 21 points from them in the first half. Even Mason looked great on that veer.

If I'm going to criticize, I'd say we look better rushing with tight ends than a fullback, especially in this game. The second half was boring on purpose, but that was to be expected when we had the game pretty much in hand.

I'm all about making them choose between Austin and Gurley and burning them with passes when they do, but to try to force it to him just won't help anyone.

Can't wait to see how we play the Seahawks.

Schotty just had no idea how to get TA the ball in an effective manner. TA had less than 4 touches a game as a rookie and about 4.5 last season. Right now he's getting only about 1.5 touches a game more at just over 6.

You don't have to force him the ball, just hand it to him. 9.1 YPC is amazing and it doesn't drop off when he touches the ball more. He hasn't had under 8 YPC when touching the ball 7 times or more. In his games where he touched the ball 10 or more times, he had 12 YPC.

The only game this season where his YPC dropped below 7 was the Seattle game. The last two games he has above average touches at 7 per game and 9 YPC. It's just amazing.

Setting the worries aside, the reality is, there has been no drop off in production this season when his touches go up. I just can't grasp why they won't give him the ball more.

If he had 10 touches in the first 3 quarters and then see where he needs to be from there based on the score, I'd be very pleased. Even if just to see how he handles it.

Against Seattle in Seattle, they are going to need him a LOT. I would bet that if he sees 7 or less touches, Rams lose and lose big. If he sees 12 or more, it's a win or very close.