tavon austin

InvaderRam wrote:

just wondering out loud. is there still things we have yet to see from this guy? i’m convinced that goff is going to need at least one receiver he can rely on. even brady had troy brown as a second year player.

i’m wondering if maybe austin could be that. a lot of people have written him off but last year he had a career year in terms of just receptions 52. i think an uptick to 70 receptions is possible along with his usual threat as a ball carrier. but being able to make quick safe passes to this guy and letting him make plays. i think there’s still some potential to be tapped.

some receivers especially a converted running back can take a little longer to develop. he’s only played three years and came in more raw than most prospects. there’s plenty of players in this league who didn’t break out until their fourth year. some really good ones.

and despite seeing an uptick in touches he’s actually gotten more durable. he’s gone from 49 to 67 to 104 touches on offense. so could i see an increase of about 20 more touches this season. i think it’s very possible.

of course i don’t know anything about his route running abilities but again. these are things i believe he can improve on.

I don’t see him as a receiver. I see him as a hybrid weapon (he has as many rushes as he does catches…and he gets 8.3 a carry). The guys who write him off do so because they judge him as a receiver. I don’t write him off–I see his value–and I have never seen him as a receiver, going back to when I advocated picking him before the draft.

If Goff gets a go-to guy in 2016, I don’t think it will be Tavon.

Though, Tavon ought to do his hybrid weapon style damage as usual, IMO.

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InvaderRam wrote:

but my point is his abilities as a receiver and i do think they’re being written off somewhat.

not that being a hybrid weapon is bad. but i think he could have more to contribute as a receiver.

Well maybe we just mean different things by “go-to receiver.” And obviously it’s all just opinions. But, while I think it’s certainly possible he could catch more than he has before, I just don’t think of him as a go-to, clutch play at the right time kinda guy. I think they need a different critter to become that. I think if/when they get that, Tavon will complement him…but I don’t think it will be him.

But then if I was always right I could get paid for posting.

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zn wrote:

But then if I was always right I could get paid for posting.

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You can always have free pie. 😉

InvaderRam wrote:

although i concede that saying he could be goff’s go to receiver was going a little overboard. i’m just a little anxious about how goff will do his rookie year. feel like he’s gonna need the receivers to step up. don’t think the rookies are gonna be up for it. not this year. austin seems like their best chance.

This kind of no-holds-barred, “I’m just right” board war has to have limits. So maybe by July we should think about slowing it down.

Anyway, you’re right…Goff would do better as a rookie if he had a receiver. I don’t know, it’s possible that Tavon steps up and adds more receiving chops. It’s also possible Britt does the same. Maybe Marquez has some of that in him. Maybe Quick goes back to what he was showing early in 2014. It’s also possible they work Gurley in more to the passing game. (I’m not going to count Bailey.) Maybe all that happens, or a percentage of it. Maybe a rookie defies the normal odds and steps up.

I don’t think it’s bleak, it just looks like one big question.

Reminds me of the snakebit past, a little. Bradford began his rookie season with Mark Clayton, and Clayton looked like he was going to be better than his Ravens self and give SB a go-to guy. Then he was hurt in the 2nd game. This isn’t like that…there’s no Clayton this time, and there probably isn’t a Laurent Robinson or Gilyard either (meaning I don’t think they will end up stuck with guys who are just that bad). There’s no Amendola either, but then Amendola was a mixed blessing (he was a short yardage magician but not an outside guy).

I think it’s possible there’s someone in this mix who can get 60/900–

Austin?
Britt?
Cooper?
Marquez?
North?
McRoberts?
Quick?
Spruce?
Thomas?

I am not listing Williams because he has too far to go and too much to prove.

My own view, remember, is that 2017 will look better regarding all this than 2016 does now. Which, I know, is a big help. I am even afraid to use the phrase “be patient” around longterm diehard Rams fans. It sounds too much like “Niagra Falls.”
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IR, a lot of our issues came up in this article:

Wagoner: adding more receiver versatility to Rams offense (Tavon, Cooper)

Tavon will be Cooper’s go to target . It’ll work trust me.