Tavon Austin is Ridiculous

Corso

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gp_cowpolk said:
He faked the Oklahoma safety off of his feet several times in that game put him on the ground with a juke
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The kid's got moves. There's no denying that, once he has the ball and a little space. He's herky-jerky, yet fluid with explosion.
He can definitely be a weapon, but he has to be used right.

I bet he could dance anyone under the table at the Club...
 
xwalker

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Roadtrip635 said:
It's about managing expectations. In those talks with Snead and McVay, they spent more time saying what a great "human being" he is than what a great player he is. That's akin for hearing your blind date has a great personality. By all accounts, he's a great teammate and locker room guy, so that's a plus. I'm fine with the risk for a 6th rd pick, but you have to remember he was traded for a 6th rd pick for a reason. If you're expecting him to be a Pro-Bowl level player, you'll probably be disappointed, but he should at least outplay his 6th rd pick cost, again it's about managing expectations.
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Yes, nobody should expect a Pro-Bowl player; however, he can be a significant contributor.

After studying games last season I repeatedly said the Cowboys really need a Tyreek Hill type player even if that speed threat was not a true starter.

Austin is not Hill but it's a similar concept.

Zeke was the only speed threat in the underneath area. Butler provided a deep threat but not the underneath catch and run type of threat.

On 3rd and medium/long defenses just played the sticks and were content if Beasley caught it short because they were confident they could tackle him short of the sticks. Same with Witten and TWill has the odd limitation of struggling with short passes because he needs time to "see" the ball.

There was not enough time in many 3rd and long situations to go deep to Butler.

Replace Beasley with Tavon Austin on 3rd and medium/long and defenses will play differently. Where Austin is best is when given some open space to catch the ball and make some moves.

Even if Austin does not rack up big stats, just that threat can change the coverage.

Even Lucky Whitehead had some situational value back in 2015/2016. I think he would have had more opportunities but struggled with the mental side of functioning in an NFL offense.
 
Verdict

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jobberone said:
Austin is a special player but he's in a niche. He's too small to be a bell cow but he is big enough to play more snaps than the usual third down back. If Sprole can play then Austin should be able to. I just don't know if the coaches will pull EE off the field enough. It'll help EE to get less snaps assuming we get production from Austin. He's as big as Dorsett.

I'd love to see him get downfield from motion. They'll have to play at least 1 deep and likely two deep. A LB can't cover him.
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Austin will make teams have to respect his speed and big play ability. I think if we use Austin correctly he can be an impact player for us. It was a good pickup. Low risk, high ceiling player. B
 
jobberone

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xwalker said:
Yes, nobody should expect a Pro-Bowl player; however, he can be a significant contributor.

After studying games last season I repeatedly said the Cowboys really need a Tyreek Hill type player even if that speed threat was not a true starter.

Austin is not Hill but it's a similar concept.

Zeke was the only speed threat in the underneath area. Butler provided a deep threat but not the underneath catch and run type of threat.

On 3rd and medium/long defenses just played the sticks and were content if Beasley caught it short because they were confident they could tackle him short of the sticks. Same with Witten and TWill has the odd limitation of struggling with short passes because he needs time to "see" the ball.

There was not enough time in many 3rd and long situations to go deep to Butler.

Replace Beasley with Tavon Austin on 3rd and medium/long and defenses will play differently. Where Austin is best is when given some open space to catch the ball and make some moves.

Even if Austin does not rack up big stats, just that threat can change the coverage.

Even Lucky Whitehead had some situational value back in 2015/2016. I think he would have had more opportunities but struggled with the mental side of functioning in an NFL offense.
Click to expand...

He's great with wheel routes and outlet passes. He's going to force defenses to change up.
 
817Gill

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Roadtrip635 said:
It's about managing expectations. In those talks with Snead and McVay, they spent more time saying what a great "human being" he is than what a great player he is. That's akin for hearing your blind date has a great personality. By all accounts, he's a great teammate and locker room guy, so that's a plus. I'm fine with the risk for a 6th rd pick, but you have to remember he was traded for a 6th rd pick for a reason. If you're expecting him to be a Pro-Bowl level player, you'll probably be disappointed, but he should at least outplay his 6th rd pick cost, again it's about managing expectations.
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I do agree that we should manage expectations, but his praise of Tavon's personality doesn't change the reason he fell behind in LA.

Though to make those decisions,” Snead said. “Last year Tavon, unfortunately, when Sean got here, he had the wrist injury and couldn’t get on the field and fell behind. Unfortunately for him, we kind of moved on in terms of adding people to the roster and by the time he was able to get back, was never really able to get into the rotation.

“So, we did feel like Tavon deserved a chance to go try to be Tavon,” Snead continued. “But, I can’t say enough about that human being — just what he went through last year, where he was at on the depth chart by the end, but still being an unbelievable team guy.”

“n this short year that you’re around him, what a special, unique person he is,” McVay said. “Clearly an incredible talent where you see the athleticism, the explosiveness that he has to be able to create the big plays. I think you find out a lot about people when they go through some hardships or some adversity and all he continued to demonstrate is that he’s all about the right stuff. Can’t really echo enough about what Les said, just the amount of respect you have for the human being.”


My whole point with this was that we shouldn't look at Tavon's past and say he's an underwhelming player. We should see that sometimes a change of scenery can really take a players game to the next level. Tavon played under Jeff Fisher and his 'middle-school' offense for 4 years and still had a pro-bowl caliber season in 2015. I have no doubts he would have been extremely impactful in 2017 with McVay had he stayed healthy. I'm not saying he's an all-pro, but a guy with that type of athleticism and instinct in the open field will be effective if put in the right situations.

The worry is with Linehan, but he has stated he's always had a plan for Austin going back to 2013. He also put Reggie Bush in great positions to succeed in a similar role to Tavon when Bush had 1,006 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, 54 receptions, 506 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns. Tavon can be a real asset to the offense.

Also, here is an expert from an article with McVay talking about Tavon:

“I think the world of Tavon, not only as a player but as a person,” McVay said this week. “I think unfortunately with his situation, he was never really able to get healthy and it was hard to truly get him on there and get him the opportunities that he probably deserved. That’s something I wish I did a better job with.” ...

“We didn’t do a good enough job of being able to – and mostly, I didn’t do a good enough job of being able to get the most out of him because he’s a special player and he’s shown that when the ball is in his hands, good things have happened,” McVay added. I think it boils down to just some unfortunate circumstances with those injuries.”

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/20...ams-tavon-austin-trade-sean-mcvay-blame-2018/
 
Roadtrip635

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817Gill said:
I do agree that we should manage expectations, but his praise of Tavon's personality doesn't change the reason he fell behind in LA.

Though to make those decisions,” Snead said. “Last year Tavon, unfortunately, when Sean got here, he had the wrist injury and couldn’t get on the field and fell behind. Unfortunately for him, we kind of moved on in terms of adding people to the roster and by the time he was able to get back, was never really able to get into the rotation.

“So, we did feel like Tavon deserved a chance to go try to be Tavon,” Snead continued. “But, I can’t say enough about that human being — just what he went through last year, where he was at on the depth chart by the end, but still being an unbelievable team guy.”

“n this short year that you’re around him, what a special, unique person he is,” McVay said. “Clearly an incredible talent where you see the athleticism, the explosiveness that he has to be able to create the big plays. I think you find out a lot about people when they go through some hardships or some adversity and all he continued to demonstrate is that he’s all about the right stuff. Can’t really echo enough about what Les said, just the amount of respect you have for the human being.”


My whole point with this was that we shouldn't look at Tavon's past and say he's an underwhelming player. We should see that sometimes a change of scenery can really take a players game to the next level. Tavon played under Jeff Fisher and his 'middle-school' offense for 4 years and still had a pro-bowl caliber season in 2015. I have no doubts he would have been extremely impactful in 2017 with McVay had he stayed healthy. I'm not saying he's an all-pro, but a guy with that type of athleticism and instinct in the open field will be effective if put in the right situations.

The worry is with Linehan, but he has stated he's always had a plan for Austin going back to 2013. He also put Reggie Bush in great positions to succeed in a similar role to Tavon when Bush had 1,006 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, 54 receptions, 506 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns. Tavon can be a real asset to the offense.

Also, here is an expert from an article with McVay talking about Tavon:

“I think the world of Tavon, not only as a player but as a person,” McVay said this week. “I think unfortunately with his situation, he was never really able to get healthy and it was hard to truly get him on there and get him the opportunities that he probably deserved. That’s something I wish I did a better job with.” ...

“We didn’t do a good enough job of being able to – and mostly, I didn’t do a good enough job of being able to get the most out of him because he’s a special player and he’s shown that when the ball is in his hands, good things have happened,” McVay added. I think it boils down to just some unfortunate circumstances with those injuries.”

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/20...ams-tavon-austin-trade-sean-mcvay-blame-2018/
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If McVay truly believed that Austin was as special as he's spinning to the media, he wouldn't let a player like that go, especially not for a mere 6th rd pick. If the Cowboys had not offered the pick, there is a strong likelihood that Austin would just have been cut anyway, even after renegotiating to a more team friendly contract. If he really believed Austin could be that type player and the thing holding him up were the injuries, why not give him a full off season with him healthy? For us it's a low risk 6th rd pick, but makes less sense for them to trade away that type talent for a 6th rd pick. Realistically, who could they draft in the 6th rd. that could bring that talent?

It sounds like, at least to me, they really like the person, have great respect how he's handled his situation, great locker room guy, great team mate, team first guy, all good things, but also not the weapon they had hoped for on the field.

Linehan did great with Reggie Bush, but Bush had already proven himself in this league it's not like Linehan turned him around from a disappointment. Bush is a whole different type, he is/was a RB and better receiver than Austin has shown himself to be. Austin can have a role on this team, but it's very doubtful that he will suddenly become what some still envision he should be.
 
Fontaine

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T-RO said:
Lemmie paint a little picture:

You got safeties and corners crashing down in run support because Zeke and the o-line are kicking are...and you got Tavon running deep crossing pattern. Tavon can out-run any corner out there.

No he's not a polished runner. No his hands aren't super.

But there will be some deep balls...and this will really hinder defenses from crashing hard.
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This is exactly what he’s here for, keep the defense honest.
 
817Gill

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Roadtrip635 said:
If McVay truly believed that Austin was as special as he's spinning to the media, he wouldn't let a player like that go, especially not for a mere 6th rd pick. If the Cowboys had not offered the pick, there is a strong likelihood that Austin would just have been cut anyway, even after renegotiating to a more team friendly contract. If he really believed Austin could be that type player and the thing holding him up were the injuries, why not give him a full off season with him healthy? For us it's a low risk 6th rd pick, but makes less sense for them to trade away that type talent for a 6th rd pick. Realistically, who could they draft in the 6th rd. that could bring that talent?

It sounds like, at least to me, they really like the person, have great respect how he's handled his situation, great locker room guy, great team mate, team first guy, all good things, but also not the weapon they had hoped for on the field.

Linehan did great with Reggie Bush, but Bush had already proven himself in this league it's not like Linehan turned him around from a disappointment. Bush is a whole different type, he is/was a RB and better receiver than Austin has shown himself to be. Austin can have a role on this team, but it's very doubtful that he will suddenly become what some still envision he should be.
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I get where you're coming from. But often times new regimes want to bring in their own guys. Snead and McVay had nothing invested in Austin and once they saw that they didn't necessarily need him, they moved him. He is also looking for a new contract after this season and I imagine that the success of the offense without him made him extremely expendable, thus him only going for a 6th. Again, Tavon is a weapon but in a niche role. The Rams weren't going to reconfigure their offense for him and were too successful in 2017 to worry about integrating a niche player. His athletic talent and ability are elite and they know and have said that.

Going back to managing expectations, Tavon should not have been the #8 overall pick and it was a bad pick by a bad regime. He is a round 2/3 guy who can be very effective if employed correctly. His success is almost directly correlated with how he is used. He's not a QB or MLB that has to be use mental sharpness, football know-how, and technical knowledge to succeed, it's literally just a matter of getting him in space. As long as Tavon still runs fast, is still quick, and still has natural instincts, he's going to be physically capable of being just as effective as he was in 2015. And by all accounts, he is still the same athlete.

Tavon has done enough in the league to prove he is effective with the ball in space, just look at his career highlight reel or just the 2015 season. Unless he is slower, less quick, and less instinctual than he was when he entered the league; his success will be completely up to his use. Again, he's not a QB or OT where their career hinges on what they learn in their first few years in the league. He's not a guy who necessarily has to be '"developed", he's a plug and play niche guy. The nature of being a niche player is that you don't have to stray out of your comfort zone, just go out and use natural gifts a few times a game. That ability will be there as long as his athleticism and instincts are.

As for Reggie Bush, he was a notch above bust after his years in New Orleans, it wasn't until his second team in Miami that Bush was able to be viewed as anything more than a change of pace guy. An extremely similar situation as Tavon. Reggie's first year in 2011 with Miami yielded 1,086 rush yards and 6 touchdowns, with 43 receptions, 296 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown. It wasn't until 2013 that Bush had his career with the Lions. He had 1,006 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, 54 receptions, 506 receiving yards, and 3 receiving touchdowns.

Reggie is more RB than WR and Tavon is more WR than RB, but they are both tweeners who rely on athleticism and instincts to be explosive open field players. Both players need to be put in specific situations in order to thrive. Heck, even the great Sean Peyton couldn't do it for Reggie, it took Linehan to give him a specific role and not try to fit him in a traditional role for him to shine as an all-around contributor. Linehan's experience with this gives me a little hope that he can put Tavon in the right spots.

Again, guys like Bush and Austin are elite athletes that simply need to be used correctly in order for them to be impactful. As long as guys like that have the speed, agility, and instinct; it's gonna be up to how they're used to dictate how effective they are. Niche players rely on certain strengths to be effective in small doses, unless Tavon has lost those physical gifts, he will always be effective in the right situations. It's just up to the coach.
 
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