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It all started with a lie.
The reason Tavon Austin chose to attend West Virginia in the first place was because the coaches said he could play the position he played in high school — tailback. But then Austin showed up for his first camp in Morgantown four years ago and … was listed as a slot receiver.
“Some people told me what I wanted to hear,” the current Rams rookie said with a smile after a recent practice in St. Louis. “(Then North Carolina coach) Butch Davis told me he only viewed me as a slot receiver. Georgia came down, wanted me to play DB. I wanted to be a running back, but I really wanted to go to North Carolina, so if Butch Davis gave me a chance at running back, I would’ve gone there. But he didn’t lie to me, kept it real, and that’s why I went to West Virginia.”
West Virginia coach Bill Stewart’s staff limited Austin to playing the slot and returning kicks in his first two years, in part because the Mountaineers already had Noel Devine in a slash role. But when Dana Holgorsen took over for Stewart in 2011, things started to change. By the time Austin’s senior year rolled around, he was playing at tailback — and virtually everywhere else.
Last fall, Austin piled up 1,289 receiving yards, 978 return yards and 643 rushing yards, scoring a total of 17 touchdowns. What was once Austin’s perceived weakness — he was seen as a smaller player who couldn’t fit into one of traditional football’s roles — became his greatest strength.
On draft day this year, the Rams forked over multiple picks to move up eight spots and take the 5-foot-8, 172-pound stick of dynamite with the eighth overall selection, ahead of every other skill-position player on the board. St. Louis general manager Les Snead said he never felt a need to put Austin in a box, explaining: “It seems like I’ve heard ‘offensive weapon’ … But it’s really looking and saying, ‘Can we get a mismatch?’ “
The prevalence of the spread offense in college has given rise to the jack-of-all-trades weapon. Because of the built-in flexibility and movement that come with both the pass-heavy and run-heavy schemes, the player who arrives from high school with the “athlete” designation next to his name might not be compartmentalized as much as he would have been in the past.
Among those in the first wave of these athletes to come into the NFL, Percy Harvin had the highest profile. Austin is this year’s shiny new model. And rest assured, there are more to come.
“It’s one of those deals where, if your farm system, quote-unquote, is running that offense, then you better find a way to use those players, because that’s what they just had four years of experience doing,” said Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano, who spent 11 years combatting such attacks at Rutgers. “And yes, you can get them to do some things that maybe they’re not accustomed to doing. But the things they’re gonna do naturally when they get here are things that they’ve done.”
It all started with a lie.
The reason Tavon Austin chose to attend West Virginia in the first place was because the coaches said he could play the position he played in high school — tailback. But then Austin showed up for his first camp in Morgantown four years ago and … was listed as a slot receiver.
“Some people told me what I wanted to hear,” the current Rams rookie said with a smile after a recent practice in St. Louis. “(Then North Carolina coach) Butch Davis told me he only viewed me as a slot receiver. Georgia came down, wanted me to play DB. I wanted to be a running back, but I really wanted to go to North Carolina, so if Butch Davis gave me a chance at running back, I would’ve gone there. But he didn’t lie to me, kept it real, and that’s why I went to West Virginia.”
West Virginia coach Bill Stewart’s staff limited Austin to playing the slot and returning kicks in his first two years, in part because the Mountaineers already had Noel Devine in a slash role. But when Dana Holgorsen took over for Stewart in 2011, things started to change. By the time Austin’s senior year rolled around, he was playing at tailback — and virtually everywhere else.
Last fall, Austin piled up 1,289 receiving yards, 978 return yards and 643 rushing yards, scoring a total of 17 touchdowns. What was once Austin’s perceived weakness — he was seen as a smaller player who couldn’t fit into one of traditional football’s roles — became his greatest strength.
On draft day this year, the Rams forked over multiple picks to move up eight spots and take the 5-foot-8, 172-pound stick of dynamite with the eighth overall selection, ahead of every other skill-position player on the board. St. Louis general manager Les Snead said he never felt a need to put Austin in a box, explaining: “It seems like I’ve heard ‘offensive weapon’ … But it’s really looking and saying, ‘Can we get a mismatch?’ “
The prevalence of the spread offense in college has given rise to the jack-of-all-trades weapon. Because of the built-in flexibility and movement that come with both the pass-heavy and run-heavy schemes, the player who arrives from high school with the “athlete” designation next to his name might not be compartmentalized as much as he would have been in the past.
Among those in the first wave of these athletes to come into the NFL, Percy Harvin had the highest profile. Austin is this year’s shiny new model. And rest assured, there are more to come.
“It’s one of those deals where, if your farm system, quote-unquote, is running that offense, then you better find a way to use those players, because that’s what they just had four years of experience doing,” said Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano, who spent 11 years combatting such attacks at Rutgers. “And yes, you can get them to do some things that maybe they’re not accustomed to doing. But the things they’re gonna do naturally when they get here are things that they’ve done.”