IF Tavon doesn't impress this camp NOW is the time to trade him

[PressureD41]

Cut Austin now, I would be totaLLY fine w/ it..We have too many of the same type of WRs on our roster currently. But I think he gets to stick this season unless he gets beat out. So far he can't stay on the field, always hurt. So won't be shocked if they just cut him and dealt w/ dead money unless they could trade him. Just not so sure his contract is tradeable to be honest.

 

[nighttrain]

No way is Austin gonna be cut...
train

 

[PressureD41]

No way is Austin gonna be cut...
train

ya maybe, but he missed most if not all of OTA's and now is hurt again in training camp. Leash is getting shorter is all I'm saying.

 

[nighttrain]

McVay not gonna cut 1st round pick, 10th overall, till he sees some game film. Be suicide to have Tavon rock it with another team

train

 

[BonifayRam]

Sorry but I got to ask. Why would you give a mediocre player a roster spot if it could keep a better player off the team?
Dead cap is a sunk cost, that money is gone.

No reason to be sorry glad to respond to you my fellow Ram fan...

First your point has merit no way possible he will preform up to that $$$ deal.. That bad contract deal is water under the bridge now so we really can not resolve that big problem until 2018 ends. Release now comes @ a very high price in several ways.

Our entire receiver unit (Woods/ Kupp/ Reynolds/ Cooper/ Spruce/ Higbee/ Everett/ Hemingway & maybe McRoberts all have one thing in common (not very fast) take away TA's speed & it would leave a major hole in the overall unit.

I also differ in opinion from most here on how valuable TA could be to our RB backfield unit. I truly believe his worth is higher if we could find a way to 50/50 his time on the offense between backfield & as a WR. Most other members hold his value in the backfield considerably less than I.

 

[nighttrain]

Our entire receiver unit (Woods/ Kupp/ Reynolds/ Cooper/ Spruce/ Higbee/ Everett/ Hemingway & maybe McRoberts all have one thing in common (not very fast) take away TA's speed & it would leave a major hole in the overall unit.

I also differ in opinion from most here on how valuable TA could be to our RB backfield unit. I truly believe his worth is higher if we could find a way to 50/50 his time on the offense between backfield & as a WR. Most other members hold his value in the backfield considerably less than I.

McVay's job, or one of them, is to figure this out.........
train

 

[OldSchool]

I certainly would not be heart broken to learn that TA was traded.

I'll never understand why we did not run TA on jet sweeps as opposing defenses were focused on, and effectively shutting down, Gurley.

Let's see where we are at the midpoint of the season and how this staff intends to deploy TA.

We already gave away Grob and WHayes (whom we could really use now with Easly's injury).

Hayes doesn't really fit as a DE in a 3-4 he's much better in a 4-3. Some guys can play both schemes some can't. Besides we have plenty of depth and youth at the position you won't miss Hayes at all.

 

[dieterbrock]

I'd rather keep the only vertical threat on the team as opposed to at best collecting a 2018 6th rounder for him. Even if he just returns punts it's a better value than a 6th rounder.

 

[Adi]

No way you can judge Tavon without seeing him play in a real game. I say he shines under this new offense, I am going into this season with every player on offense starting with a clean slate, the offensive scheme the last 2 seasos has hindered alot of these players

 

[Yamahopper]

I should have expressed myself this way. The question was the 2018 season and his level of play. More likely than not the Rams will obtain a true #1 WR in FA, draft or both, plus what they drafted this year and Woods.If he doesn't evolve he could be too far down the depth chart to justify his cap number provided he doesn't improve as a WR to keep.for the 2018 season just not to have dead cap. Somewhere the level of play has to exceed the cap number.
Ask yourself this.with any player. If he was a 7th round draft pick would he still be on the team.

 

[WvuIN02]

Who cares if he was a 1st or 7th round pick?

He is still the biggest threat to score from anywhere on the field on this team. So its not even debatable right now whether to keep him or not. Its not like the Rams are overflowing with talent and cutting wideouts that would be starters on other teams.

Some fans in Ramsland are so far gone about what the Rams realistically are its not even funny. This team was DEAD LAST in the NFL last year on offense. I mean, how hard is that to digest.

Truth of this team is this: Goff, Gurley, and everyone else was hot garbage last year too and are all likely to go through another year of growing pains with an entirely new staff and an OL that is better but still not good enough. This team is not the Patriots or Steelers that are models of consistency and simply reload and produce every year. Hell we dont even know if McVay is going to be a good head coach yet, and even if he is I doubt he is a miracle worker (this team is devoid of talent mostly everywhere on offense still). He sounds the part, but 99.9% of everyone here said Fisher did too lest we forget.

All that said, hope springs eternal and I think a year of wait-and-see is in order here before deciding who to cut before they have even played a snap under a new offense and QB who hopefully has grown a lot.

 

[Merlin]

Some fans in Ramsland are so far gone about what the Rams realistically are its not even funny. This team was DEAD LAST in the NFL last year on offense. I mean, how hard is that to digest.

My keg of Kool-Aid disagrees. And with my head swimming in a euphoric state with the season looming it urges me to point out that in '98 we had a pretty bad defense and prospects of winning if you would have polled the experts.

Never know brother. So drink a little!

Oh and btw it's a damn good thing I didn't put a poll up on this. Phew!

 

[A.J. Hicks]

Simply the idea of Tavon going deep should scare some secondaries. It seems as though he hasn't been asked to run deeper than 5 yards much in his career.

 

[bwdenverram]

I take his stats with grain of salt...He's been force fed the ball (carries and catches) and managed one season (out of 4 so far) where he scored a combined 10 TDS...he had one good season so far and hes entering his 5th season...He's been an absolute flop at WR so far, that is undeniable...

Undeniable...That's your opinion and that's cool. Again, the system hasn't been good nor has the QB's throwing to him.
I don't think you can argue though there isn't a more dynamic or better option on the roster at this point. Like it or not..

 

[LesBaker]

I see Merlin's point.

It's not about the cap. In fact Merlin says that we would have to eat some of Tavon's '17 contract year if we hope to offload him. Millions, in fact, although it's already budgeted in his contract cap effect, isn't it?

It's more about saving that valuable roster spot for a WR that DOES look like he might fit well in this new McVay O. Assuming that the staff comes to the conclusion that Tavon does not.

Makes sense to me, if all the tumblers fall into place.

But does it make sense sense to give a roster spot to someone who will most likely be less productive? Because at this point that's pretty much what you are going to get.

I think we will know more about 8 games into the season. Don't give up on TA right now.

 

[jap]

Simply the idea of Tavon going deep should scare some secondaries. It seems as though he hasn't been asked to run deeper than 5 yards much in his career.

Tavon has enjoyed only two QBs---Sam the ex-Ram & Jared---who has had the strength & accuracy to find his tiny self deep within a secondary of DB 'trees'. There was just no point in running him deep without proper talent behind center. And Tavon running deep with a talented QB (eg, Jared) and quality fly brothers who have to be covered will scare the snot out of just about every opposing NFL defensive coordinator.

 

[Soul Surfer]

McVay not gonna cut 1st round pick, 10th overall, till he sees some game film.

train

I'm pretty sure that McVay has seen some game film on Tavon.

But I'm pretty sure you're right in that he's going to want to MAKE some game film on Tavon and work with him all season to see how he progresses.

Another interesting thing we have to look forward to this season.

 

[Merlin]

But does it make sense sense to give a roster spot to someone who will most likely be less productive? Because at this point that's pretty much what you are going to get.

Everyone keeps going back to the same old discussions re: Tavon. I am not going to deny he wasn't set up for success with the previous regime. And I'm not going to deny he wasn't set up for success wrt the other 10 players on the field with him. I have defended him in the past on those things as well as criticized him for some of his issues. But this is not about all that.

This is about projection. Right now this staff is evaluating him against those other options that you mentioned, where many of us are making the assumption will be less productive. But that's not necessarily the case for an offense that is about precise route running. And again I am not going to say the kid can't do it, because I am sure he can. But the staff inevitably does have an opinion and one that they're not going to share outside their offices.

My concern is simply that the team make a decision on him in this camp early enough to either stay the course with him or move him while he still has some value. If and when he struggles under an offensive mind like McVay it's game over for us getting any sort of value for him.

 

[simonblaze]

Undeniable...That's your opinion and that's cool. Again, the system hasn't been good nor has the QB's throwing to him.
I don't think you can argue though there isn't a more dynamic or better option on the roster at this point. Like it or not..

Point taken my Ram Brother.