Why did Tavon hardly play yesterday.

[Ramlock]

Calling BS here
TA has made major contributions and his absence was puzzling
The fact that he is wildly over paid as a gadget player is irrelevant. He averaged 4 rushes per game leading up to yesterday.
In fact, no RB got a carry yesterday other than TGIII

Very strange indeed

No BS

There is and have been a vocal crew that complain weekly about Tavon.

He should have gotten a few touches or more participation as a decoy.

 

[Zaphod]

I understand that but the endless Tavon threads and Tavon comments are tiring and the same people wondering where he is now. :banghead:

So you voice your frustrations about other fans in a thread that until then had no negative comments about him thus far to ... what? Get those tiring comments going again?

I call bologna.

 

[Rmfnlt]

Makes me think they were almost afraid that Austin could turn it over or something and this was a game they did not want to have any turnovers. probably thought if they could stay turnover free, they win.

Well, he does have a history of coughing it up... and I am pretty sure McVay understood how critical turnovers would be in a game like that, so this makes some sense. Either that or some doghouse issue... or maybe McVay has lost confidence and/or patience waiting for him to become more consistent.

TA has made major contributions

Major? Not sure about that word... he lost his starting punt return job because he couldn't hold onto the ball. He is inconsistently effective on those sweeps. He is mildy effective on "normal" running plays... generally, he's so slight of build, the first defender that bumps into him, knocks him down. And, he basically lost his WR job.

The fact that he is wildly over paid as a gadget player is irrelevant.

To me, it's not irrelevant at all. The Rams are paying him based on him being:
* Elite returner - he's not doing any of that now
* Wide receiver - not really doing any of that
* Running back - (see above... not very effective)
* Gadget plays - inconsistently effective

He's gained 214 yards from scrimmage thus far... $15 mil guaranteed for this year and 214 yards?

As a fan, I have the right to be upset over that... that money could have been spent elsewhere to improve the team and the production is sad.

Water under the bridge now... Fisher signed him... but he has become an albatross around the Rams neck.

Not irrelevant to me.

There is and have been a vocal crew that complain weekly about Tavon.

See above, for those that "complain". I think they have a right (to complain).

I keep hoping that he'll have some breakthrough game... but, with most of his duties having been stripped away from him, I don't see that happening. He doesn't help himself much by running sideways for no gain or a loss far too often.

And, of course, most Rams fan hold their breath when he has the ball because of his security issues.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Yesterday's game hinged on our inability to run the ball....we couldn't sustain any long drives....in a celebration post last week, I noted, we seemed to "look" for the big explosive play....rather than move the chains with 10-12 play drives.

I too wondered why no Tavon, at least the ghost motion....

I also think we played conservative to....protect a certain investment...seemed odd...but I understand.

 

[Ramlock]

Well, he does have a history of coughing it up... and I am pretty sure McVay understood how critical turnovers would be in a game like that, so this makes some sense. Either that or some doghouse issue... or maybe McVay has lost confidence and/or patience waiting for him to become more consistent.





See above, for those that "complain". I think they have a right (to complain).

I keep hoping that he'll have some breakthrough game... but, with most of his duties having been stripped away from him, I don't see that happening. He doesn't help himself much by running sideways for no gain or a loss far too often.

And, of course, most Rams fan hold their breath when he has the ball because of his security issues.

The complainers exercise their right on a daily basis.

I have a right to an opinion of the complainers....

And McVay has consistently voiced support for Tavon Austin, so understanding critical turnovers and doghouse issues seem like fan conspiracies, IMO

 

[dieterbrock]

Major? Not sure about that word... he lost his starting punt return job because he couldn't hold onto the ball. He is inconsistently effective on those sweeps. He is mildy effective on "normal" running plays... generally, he's so slight of build, the first defender that bumps into him, knocks him down. And, he basically lost his WR job.

He's made a couple of bone crushing blocks as well. Major might be a stretch but he has made impact that doesnt show up on a stat sheet. Again, not worth the pay grade but def worth getting the playing time

To me, it's not irrelevant at all. The Rams are paying him based on him being:
* Elite returner - he's not doing any of that now
* Wide receiver - not really doing any of that
* Running back - (see above... not very effective)
* Gadget plays - inconsistently effective

He's gained 214 yards from scrimmage thus far... $15 mil guaranteed for this year and 214 yards?

As a fan, I have the right to be upset over that... that money could have been spent elsewhere to improve the team and the production is sad.

Its irrelevant because the money is spent. There's nothing that can be done about it. The fact is that the team has benefited from his play, and clearly could have used that spark yesterday

 

[96GS#007]

Yesterday's game hinged on our inability to run the ball....we couldn't sustain any long drives....in a celebration post last week, I noted, we seemed to "look" for the big explosive play....rather than move the chains with 10-12 play drives.

I too wondered why no Tavon, at least the ghost motion....

I also think we played conservative to....protect a certain investment...seemed odd...but I understand.

I agree.

It also seemed the longer we went without a splash play, the harder we tried which is counter productive. Gotta draw them in with the 5-10 yard slants and curls when they're playing off and then hit them over the top when they move guys down.

 

[Ram65]

Why did Tavon hardly play yesterday?

Good question considering

He averaged 4 rushes per game leading up to yesterday.

No carries or fake jet sweeps seems odds. I don't think dog house. He hasn't fumbled in awhile either. I could go with avoiding negative plays against a fast defense. Doesn't explain no fakes which could be the flow of the game as was mentioned.

Looks like Minn ran 73 offensive plays, Rams 54 offensive plays; 7 fewer than the past 2 games.

The Rams offense didn't get on track. The first drive was 10 plays while the Kupp's fumble drive was 9 plays. Take away those 19 plays and the Rams only ran 35 plays the rest of the game. On the last drive in garbage time the Rams ran 13 plays. Now, that leaves 22 plays for all the other drive. The Rams didn't get into much of a rhythm on offense.

 

[Jacobarch]

Thought the same myself , hard to believe that a genius like Mcvay can not find a posiive way to use Tavon.

Wish they could of traded him for something before the deadline .

Well up until this point TA has been used pretty positively. Other than TA's own self inflicted blunders he's been pretty effective in what we've been using him for. I think Mcvay will turn him into a RB this offseason, if we don't cut bait with him.

 

[Merlin]

Because he does not fit this offense. Someday fans are going to realize that.

 

[kurtfaulk]

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I think mcvay is playing the long game. Doesn't want to show the teams they're playing in the playoffs what they've got. Probable thinks they can still make it even if they drop 5 games.

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[Merlin]

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I think mcvay is playing the long game. Doesn't want to show the teams they're playing in the playoffs what they've got. Probable thinks they can still make it even if they drop 5 games.

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The NFC playoffs, if the Rams get in, will include 5 opponents with outstanding to strong scoring defenses. It is going to be a grueling 3x games to get to the big dance, because at this point it's unlikely we end up getting a bye.

There is no way a gadget player who needs a huge seam to make something happen, who has terrible hands and a subatomic catch radius, will suddenly emerge as a big offensive element for us in that environment.

Great defenses mean less space before you're hit, tackled, etc. They mean less overpursuit, less blown coverages, and all the other things that a guy like Tavon can expose in his limited functionality in this scheme. No. What the Rams are truly lacking is another big target who can be a security blanket for the QB, i.e. a TE.

Tavon is done in horns. He will be a schematic distraction at most the rest of the way, because McVay's not stupid, he isn't going to try to force the ball to a guy who might make one big splash play followed by fifteen negative plays.

 

[kurtfaulk]

The NFC playoffs, if the Rams get in, will include 5 opponents with outstanding to strong scoring defenses. It is going to be a grueling 3x games to get to the big dance, because at this point it's unlikely we end up getting a bye.

There is no way a gadget player who needs a huge seam to make something happen, who has terrible hands and a subatomic catch radius, will suddenly emerge as a big offensive element for us in that environment.

Great defenses mean less space before you're hit, tackled, etc. They mean less overpursuit, less blown coverages, and all the other things that a guy like Tavon can expose in his limited functionality in this scheme. No. What the Rams are truly lacking is another big target who can be a security blanket for the QB, i.e. a TE.

Tavon is done in horns. He will be a schematic distraction at most the rest of the way, because McVay's not stupid, he isn't going to try to force the ball to a guy who might make one big splash play followed by fifteen negative plays.

The rams offense looks a hundred times better when he's on the field taking the defensive looks off Gurley. And the offense works when Gurley is making yards and getting 1st downs. Tavon is a critical part of that offense.

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[Merlin]

The rams offense looks a hundred times better when he's on the field taking the defensive looks off Gurley. And the offense works when Gurley is making yards and getting 1st downs. Tavon is a critical part of that offense.

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I don't think the offense struggled yesterday because McVay forgot to trot Tavon out there however many times. It struggled because it was facing a legitimate playoff defense. Just like it struggled when it faced the Seahawks.

This team is close to being able to handle those types of games. They just need to make some adjustments to better open up the middle of the field. Tavon isn't going to be a part of that in anything other than the hearts of fans who are rooting for him.

I recognize his value as a decoy attacking the edge, too. But vs elite defenses that value diminishes because they can all tackle outside the hashes and play disciplined ball out there. My suspicion is McVay knew that and tried to gameplan the adjustment going in.

We'll never know of course but one thing I'm sure of going forward is the rest of the season and into the playoffs we will see "why isn't Tavon getting more snaps" posts every single week. Because he's miscast in this offense and won't be a crucial part of things down the stretch.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Tavon has not been as effective lately. Tough defenses seem to keep him neutralized lately, The game was close, Minnesota's front seven were bottling everything up. Tavon is not a good blocker. So they needed the extra blocker to help keep Goff clean on pass plays. Tavon comes up with the short straw.

 

[Rmfnlt]

The rams offense looks a hundred times better when he's on the field taking the defensive looks off Gurley. And the offense works when Gurley is making yards and getting 1st downs. Tavon is a critical part of that offense.

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You think Austin is that important to the Rams offense?

 

[kurtfaulk]

You think Austin is that important to the Rams offense?

sure do. and the numbers prove it. somebody put up a stat a few weeks ago that showed the difference in gurley's ypc when tavon was on the field and when he wasn't on the field. it was much higher when tavon was on the field.

the oline obviously isn't creating huge holes for gurley to run through so there's nothing wrong with giving them as much help as possible.

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[Rmfnlt]

sure do. and the numbers prove it. somebody put up a stat a few weeks ago that showed the difference in gurley's ypc when tavon was on the field and when he wasn't on the field. it was much higher when tavon was on the field.

the oline obviously isn't creating huge holes for gurley to run through so there's nothing wrong with giving them as much help as possible.

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I'll just say I disagree.

It's like Watkins... we're supposed to be impressed with just the fact they are on the field and distracting defenses.

I'm sorry... I'd like a little more meat and less veggies with my players.

Watching him is like eating air. Not very fulfilling.

 

[SteezyEndo]

Now I am confused, literally mind boggled to the point where my cranium wants to implode. I get both points from both parties. Is TA worth having? or did we really just face a tough reality of a playoff opponent? I would like to see if TA is utilized more against the Saints and become victorious. I am just curious now.

 

[Rmfnlt]

Now I am confused, literally mind boggled to the point where my cranium wants to implode. I get both points from both parties. Is TA worth having? or did we really just face a tough reality of a playoff opponent? I would like to see if TA is utilized more against the Saints and become victorious. I am just curious now.

I think it'll be like @Merlin pointed out, you may not see much of him against well disciplined, good defenses. His limited strengths would get eliminated by those teams (MN, for example).

NO might be different... depends on what McVay and Phillips see on tape.

We'll see...(hope you don't implode, BTW)