Dak said it best regarding Austin

[Rockport]

I liked him coming out. And like what we’re hearing from camp. I’m dubious, though. How often does a top ten pick not get his chances? I’ll be happy if he can just stretch the field.

Your becoming jaded Idgit

 

[glimmerman]

Let’s see what happens. If anything if the defense jumps and it’s a free play then run a go route and let him fly. Throw a deep one to him. I see him doing a lot of quick routes like Beez. A more experienced switzer.

And he will run the jet sweep.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Austin has had 1 fumble in 184 career carries. He has had 4 fumbles in 194 career receptions.

Fumbling is an issue for him only on punt returns where he has had 17 in 158 career returns. His main issue there doesn't appear to be fumbling after he is hit, though, it appears to be taking his eyes off the ball when he's fielding it.

I'm wary of him as a return man for this reason, but I have no concern about him being able to hold on to the ball as a receiver and runner.

Good to know. Injury prone though yes?

 

[DOUBLE WING]

Rams leading receiver was Gurley and the Rams had no 1000 yard WR. They ran the ball and used a lot of short passes. Dallas does it and gets accused of dinking and dunking McVay does it and he is somehow a guru? Big difference for the Rams success is a defense who produced 48 sacks and 18 ints

Gurley is an elite pass catching RB. The Rams tailored their offense toward their talent and are effective with what they do. Their offense was explosive last year. Scheme doesn't matter; results do.

Obviously, they felt they needed a No. 1 receiver, hence the trade and contract for Cooks. If they thought they already had that guy on the roster, they wouldn't have made that move.

Austin has five years under his belt of being a pretty average NFL player. One training camp shouldn't erase that. At this point, he is what he is until proven otherwise.

 

[Doomsday101]

Gurley is an elite pass catching RB. The Rams tailored their offense toward their talent and are effective with what they do. Their offense was explosive last year. Scheme doesn't matter; results do.

Obviously, they felt they needed a No. 1 receiver, hence the trade and contract for Cooks. If they thought they already had that guy on the roster, they wouldn't have made that move.

Austin has five years under his belt of being a pretty average NFL player. One training camp shouldn't erase that. At this point, he is what he is until proven otherwise.

I expect Austin play to do that not 1 camp. He is FA after this season ball is in his court to prove himself. As for what he did with the Rams most of it under Fisher means nothing to me, hell Fisher was not getting much out of anyone. Austin gets a new start here and we will see how it plays out.

 

[_sturt_]

@gimmesix , the 1/184 when carrying the ball is good, even very good... a graph I saw showing per 100 rates for teams over an 8 year span (2007-2014) had the very best team at 0.6 per 100 carries.

Then again... on closer scrutiny, it would seem conventional wisdom, not any research on my part, says most fumbles on carries occur when running between tackles where you're more likely to be getting touched, hit and slapped than you would be running end-arounds and reverses.

The 4/194 after reception is outright bad... almost 2 fumbles per 100, when the worst team in that same set of graphs came in at about 1.75 fumbles per 100 receptions.

I have concern.

Here are those...

Again, the fumble-itis concern is altogether legit.

 

[gimmesix]

Good to know. Injury prone though yes?

In five seasons, he's missed five games, so I would say that he's not. He's only not played in two games in the past four years. Now, I don't know if he played through injury in any of those games. Most likely, he did at time since most players do to some extent.

 

[gimmesix]

@gimmesix , the 1/184 when carrying the ball is good, even very good... a graph I saw showing per 100 rates for teams over an 8 year span (2007-2014) had the very best team at 0.6 per 100 carries.

Then again... on closer scrutiny, it would seem conventional wisdom, not any research on my part, says most fumbles on carries occur when running between tackles where you're more likely to be getting touched, hit and slapped than you would be running end-arounds and reverses.

The 4/194 after reception is outright bad... almost 2 fumbles per 100, when the worst team in that same set of graphs came in at about 1.75 fumbles per 100 receptions.

I have concern.

If he caught 100 passes for us and only had two fumbles, I'd feel pretty good about that. Maybe I shouldn't, but I would consider that acceptable loss.

I agree that running between the tackles causes more fumbles than running around the ends, but the important thing is that he doesn't fumble much when carrying the ball. We're not going to be running him between the tackles.

 

[CWR]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...tavon-austin-becomes-a-complete-receiver/amp/

He is not just a gadget player.

I honestly don't believe the rams gave Austin a fair chance to be the complete player he is and I believe they will regret letting him come to Dallas.

Hard to even count the Jeff Fisher years lol

 

[Typhus]

I still have this "can he stay healthy thing in my mind". It's a big mans game man

Me as well,,,, but true, he can, if he is used correctly, and correctly meaning that he can never be used other than sparingly, and let the sideline be your escape route, most of the time.

 

[CowboyRoy]

In five seasons, he's missed five games, so I would say that he's not. He's only not played in two games in the past four years. Now, I don't know if he played through injury in any of those games. Most likely, he did at time since most players do to some extent.

From what I read he has had nagging injuries the last two years and thats supposedly what contributed to his down years. Hurns the same way.

 

[gimmesix]

From what I read he has had nagging injuries the last two years and thats supposedly what contributed to his down years. Hurns the same way.

Well, Hurns actually missed time with his (missing 11 games the past two seasons). It wouldn't surprise me if Austin played through nagging injuries since many players do, even though it makes fans wonder why their play took a downturn (like with Maliek Collins last year). We overlook the effect of injuries quite often, sometimes because we didn't know about them at the time.

 

[buybuydandavis]

What would you expect the starting QB of the Cowboys to say about his new WR?

"You know what, I like Austin, but he's probably nothing more than a 4th WR type and gadget type player.............."

Dak has lots of new WRs. No point in dogging any of them, but he singled out Austin as doing the best. He didn't have to do that.

If Dak is playing it safe and doesn't want to offend people, he wouldn't say that Austin is doing the best job off getting involved, as that implicitly says the others guys are doing worse. This was a meaningful statement, not an *** covering "I don't want to say anything bad about him" statement.

 

[_sturt_]

If he caught 100 passes for us and only had two fumbles, I'd feel pretty good about that. Maybe I shouldn't, but I would consider that acceptable loss.

You're entitled to feel how ever you want to feel about anything, of course.

Me, I'm just comparing numbers, and 2 per 100 receptions is on the wrong end of the statistical continuum where you want a receiver to be.

And too I don't see Jason having much more patience than his old coach Jimmy did in that way.

But there's always hope for improvement.

 

[gimmesix]

You're entitled to feel how ever you want to feel about anything, of course.

Me, I'm just comparing numbers, and 2 per 100 receptions is on the wrong end of the statistical continuum where you want a receiver to be.

And too I don't see Jason having much more patience than his old coach Jimmy did in that way.

But there's always hope for improvement.

Antonio Brown was the top receiver by yardage in the league last year with 101 catches for 1,533 yards and 9 TDs. He had three fumbles.

Adam Thielan was No. 5 with 91 catches for 1,276 and 4 TDs. He had three fumbles.

A.J. Green, 12th with 75 catches for 1,078 yards and 7 TDs, had two fumbles.

Jarvis Landry, who had 112 receptions for 987 yards and 9 TDs, had three fumbles.

All of them are above the statistical continuum, but their teams aren't exactly looking to cut them. You are relying too much on this one stat without looking at variables such as what the player contributes compared to the negative result.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

Let's back up here.

Tavon Austin cost the Cowboys the 192nd pick in the draft. He once cost the Rams a top ten pick.

No matter what Dallas gets out of this guy, he's already a bigger bargain.

 

[_sturt_]

Antonio Brown was the top receiver by yardage in the league last year with 101 catches for 1,533 yards and 9 TDs. He had three fumbles.

Adam Thielan was No. 5 with 91 catches for 1,276 and 4 TDs. He had three fumbles.

A.J. Green, 12th with 75 catches for 1,078 yards and 7 TDs, had two fumbles.

Jarvis Landry, who had 112 receptions for 987 yards and 9 TDs, had three fumbles.

All of them are above the statistical continuum, but their teams aren't exactly looking to cut them. You are relying too much on this one stat without looking at variables such as what the player contributes compared to the negative result.

Wrongfully accused.

When has Tavon Austin EVER rivaled ANY of those four you cite in production, and thus, provided some reason to excuse his high fumble proclivity?

Sure, if he came to us with that kind of stat sheet to balance out the history of ball insecurity, you're absolutely right.

But he doesn't, of course.

And he won't get a chance to put up those kinds of numbers in the first place if he doesn't secure the ball better in DAL than he did with the Rams.

 

[_sturt_]

Let's back up here.

Tavon Austin cost the Cowboys the 192nd pick in the draft. He once cost the Rams a top ten pick.

No matter what Dallas gets out of this guy, he's already a bigger bargain.

Two words.

Player. Control.

It evens that equation.

 

[_sturt_]

I don't want to get labeled as anti-Tavon... though, as a Marshall grad, I do hold some natural animosity toward anyone who played for the University of Southern Pennsylvania - Morganhole, or as commonly known among us, USPaM.

I like the possibilities that he presents us, I really do.

Just my opinion, but I think it's way too early to be accepting the theory that he is a new man. He may be, but it remains a matter of potential and optimism, not anything actually empirical and lucid.

 

[Haimerej]

Dude told Nick Eatman he didn't know how to run a go route before Sanjay Lal showed him stuff in this camp.

Not sure if that means he was just horribly coached prior to DAL or he was just not paying attention before now.