Tavon Austin .... Wow!

[badnews]

Tavon was a good PR. Sure would be nice to have one of those. Really weird how much Fisher valued special teams ability, that's probably why we picked TA over Hopkins.

As ol' Squirrel Lip would always say, "Good special teams is what seperates the bad teams from the bad teams with good special teams."

 

[AZRams]

Now that the years have passed, what's your opinion?
We picked Tavon in the first round some years back.

Would you consider him a bust? Or an average 11th player chosen in the draft? (wasn't he picked 11th?)

Me? I'm going with bust.
He did some exciting plays for us. But a bust for the first round. Had we taken him in the 5th round, yeah, I'd be ok with that.

Thought he turned the corner in 2015 with the 10 total TDs. Not even McVay could find a way to turn him into a consistently good player.

Bottom-line he was never a good receiver. Didn't run routes well and didn't have great hands. Quite the double-whammy...

 

[SuperMan28]

He actually did get a big pay day though. That qualifies for higher level bust. Total busts never get a pay day.

Verdict: Way over drafted. He was a spark on special teams. Never developed into anything more than a gadget player. Mecole Hardman and Tavon have parallels.

 

[SuperMan28]

Whomever did this, well done. Brings back some good memories.


View: https://youtu.be/EJvZUVnI9dg

That was a very fun video. It feels like half his TD's got called back.

 

[fastcat]

Lol what type of question is this...??? At this point there is no thinking... He's a BUUUUUST

 

[Soul Surfer]

Drafted the same year as Cordarelle Patterson who is thriving with a coach who is using him correctly.

Tavon had/has his limitations.

I always felt like if an NFL coach wanted to really use him he could be effective. But I think ultimately his size would have hindered him in that sense even.

I see the way Patterson is being used by Falcons and I have no doubt Tavon could've succeeded in that sense of get the ball in his hands 10-15 times a game no matter what way.

Tavon was always an effective running back in my opinion he just did not have the body to thrive in that spot with durability.

Patterson is being used as a running back by the Falcons and he's bulked up and looks like a beast against Carolina.

Is Tavon Austin even in the NFL?
Who knows and who cares.

 

[Kupped]

Patterson is being used as a running back by the Falcons and he's bulked up and looks like a beast against Carolina.

Is Tavon Austin even in the NFL?
Who knows and who cares.

Yes, Tavon is.
Great for Cordarrelle.. btw.. finally found a coach who could use him.
Do we have any idea what Tavon might have done in prime KC/Mahomes offense? Tough to say.. but that's the kind of analogy I'd make to the Patterson situation.

Career numbers are an interesting comparison.

Again.. not a bust.. but not worth where he was drafted.

 

[Loyal]

I support Tutu. I'm not one who hates on him.

Who’s hating? Just wish he could play center…. *flexes.

 

[I like Rams]

Bailey was the better pick. Unfortunately Fisher was too dumb to really address his talents before they were taken away from him.

 

[badnews]

Who’s hating? Just wish he could play center…. *flexes.

Thats wishing for a lot.. I just hope he can play Wide Receiver.

 

[JonRam99]

Bailey was the better pick. Unfortunately Fisher was too dumb to really address his talents before they were taken away from him.

Stedman Bailey was a sad footnote in Ram's history. He's comparable to Woods, and picked way later in the draft. Would have been a steady #2 for us for years in a good system like McVay's. His college highlights are crazy, a really, really long video of all his TD's he scored -- and yes, at the time, I thought Stedman was the better pick over Tavon (his WV teammate w/ Bridgewater at QB). Great hands, the only guy who coulda caught "The Mountaineer".

But, back to Tavon... ya, not a "bust" per se, just Fisher tryna pound a square peg in a round hole. His value was PR/KR, COP RB and sweeps. But as a WR, his catch radius is tiny & his hands are suspect. Not worth the draft pick, and def not worth the crazy 2nd contract he got, but considering he was the best talent/weapon we had at the time, & we kinda had to keep him. Sigh.

Back to reality. I'd take Kupp alone over any WR room we had in the Fisher era combined.

 

[Ram65]

He was fun to watch. Rams over-drafted him and they over-paid him too soon. They could have used him more on deep passes. Of course, the Rams had a less than stellar offensive line to give the QBs time to throw. Rams has a number of penalties on some of his big plays. He didn't play up to his draft number but, not a real bust either.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJvZUVnI9dg

 

[JYB]

Not a bust, but not worth a #8 pick. He did some OK things for us and there are plenty of first 10 pick underachievers. Like others mentioned, he's still active so....

I think the label of “bust” is ENTIRELY related to what a team gave up to get a player. Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russell wouldn't be considered the biggest busts of all time if they were drafted in the 4th round.

Sure, if you took Tavon in, say, the second round, you’d say he didn’t live up to his draft status. Maybe not a bust, but a disappointment. If you took him in the fifth round, you’d probably say you got a decent punt returner, but not much of a WR. Good value though and a good pick for that round.

If you pick him 8th overall — and gave up a bunch to get him — then he’s absolutely a bust.

 

[Kupped]

I think the label of “bust” is ENTIRELY related to what a team gave up to get a player. Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russell wouldn't be considered the biggest busts of all time if they were drafted in the 4th round.

Sure, if you took Tavon in, say, the second round, you’d say he didn’t live up to his draft status. Maybe not a bust, but a disappointment. If you took him in the fifth round, you’d probably say you got a decent punt returner, but not much of a WR. Good value though and a good pick for that round.

If you pick him 8th overall — and gave up a bunch to get him — then he’s absolutely a bust.

Nah..
because you compare him to others picked near the same spot in the draft.

I'm assuming "bust" is the bottom of any rating scale? He wouldn't be that at the #8 spot.

Just look at the years near him... Jake Locker and Derrick Harvey.. now, THOSE are busts

 

[Billy Baroo]

Stedman Bailey was a sad footnote in Ram's history. He's comparable to Woods, and picked way later in the draft. Would have been a steady #2 for us for years in a good system like McVay's. His college highlights are crazy, a really, really long video of all his TD's he scored -- and yes, at the time, I thought Stedman was the better pick over Tavon (his WV teammate w/ Bridgewater at QB). Great hands, the only guy who coulda caught "The Mountaineer".

But, back to Tavon... ya, not a "bust" per se, just Fisher tryna pound a square peg in a round hole. His value was PR/KR, COP RB and sweeps. But as a WR, his catch radius is tiny & his hands are suspect. Not worth the draft pick, and def not worth the crazy 2nd contract he got, but considering he was the best talent/weapon we had at the time, & we kinda had to keep him. Sigh.

Back to reality. I'd take Kupp alone over any WR room we had in the Fisher era combined.

Bailey wasn’t ever in Woods’ league. Not even close.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Tavon would have been a good fourth or fifth round pick.

 

[Tano]

Tavon would have been a good fourth or fifth round pick.

I could even have handled picking him in the second round where we picked Tutu since Tavon was such a good punt returned and was decent on jet sweeps for the most part.

10 TDs in one year is fairly decent for a second round pick.

I was really hoping they could have use Tutu this year on Jet Sweeps at least or fake jet sweeps.

McVay has really abandoned the Jet Sweep this year especially once Woods went out.

 

[JYB]

Nah..
because you compare him to others picked near the same spot in the draft.

I'm assuming "bust" is the bottom of any rating scale? He wouldn't be that at the #8 spot.

Just look at the years near him... Jake Locker and Derrick Harvey.. now, THOSE are busts

Locker and Harvey were busts, too. But those teams didn't give away extra picks to draft them. You can't disregard what a team used to get a player when determining whether or not he was a bust. In fact, that is THE key factor in that evaluation.

Again, if Ryan Leaf were a second rounder, nobody would be calling him the biggest bust of all time. The fact that the Chargers traded away a ton to get him -- high picks as well as players, just to move up one spot -- was a MAJOR factor in his being deemed possibly the greatest bust of all time.

 

[Kupped]

Locker and Harvey were busts, too. But those teams didn't give away extra picks to draft them. You can't disregard what a team used to get a player when determining whether or not he was a bust. In fact, that is THE key factor in that evaluation.

Again, if Ryan Leaf were a second rounder, nobody would be calling him the biggest bust of all time. The fact that the Chargers traded away a ton to get him -- high picks as well as players, just to move up one spot -- was a MAJOR factor in his being deemed possibly the greatest bust of all time.

The value of the pick is the value of the pick.
Those teams could’ve traded out for more picks, but didn’t.
It’s the #8 overall pick.

 

[JYB]

The value of the pick is the value of the pick.
Those teams could’ve traded out for more picks, but didn’t.
It’s the #8 overall pick.

And Austin's performance on the field never came close to that value. If there were a redraft of that class, where would Tavon get picked? Fourth round? Primarily for his PR skills? That puts his selection at #8 in the bust category.