What I've noticed about Miles Austin

[DeaconMoss]

We don't need him to be a 1,000 yard receiver.

We just need a guy who is capable of making big plays for us.

Austin can make the jump ball play and stretch the field deep so Witten, Bennett and felix can be open underneath. That is what we need him for. Deep patterns. he doesn't have to be a great route runner going deep as the play action field stretcher.

 

[Bluefin]

Thats is due to his speed. It's nothing bracketing him won't fix from a defensive stand point. Timing routes require good breaks.

I disagree, NYC.

A receiver with nothing but speed is a useless toy.

Randal Williams was lightning in a straight line and he could barely get on the field as a wide receiver while with the Cowboys. He had 1 catch in 35 games with the team before joining the Raiders and having a little success as a tight end.

Miles Austin is still a work in progress after making a monumental jump in competition from college to the NFL, but he has already made a lot of progress.

Kevin Ogletree is getting a lot of love for his work against the Niners, and deservingly so, but Romo looked and found Austin on more occasions.

The theme to this year's offense is spreading the wealth with Terrell Owens no longer on the squad.

Would Romo throw to Austin if he didn't have confidence in the young wideout?

Austin had 3 touchdowns last year.

The first was a 60 yard bomb against the Packer, his second score the next week was an 11 yarder against the Skins and his third was a 14 yard ad lib option route two weeks later against the Cardinals.

Austin missed a long touchdown on his first catch against the Packers by taking a bad angle and allowing the safety to get him. He missed a 14 yard TD against the Bengals by not getting his hands together quick enough and letting the ball go straight through them (it was caught by Patrick Crayton in the back of the end zone).

So Austin scoring 3 touchdowns in four weeks was almost 5 touchdowns.

I don't think that was an accident and it wasn't purely because of speed, either.

Tony Romo was injured in overtime of the Arizona game, the last contest Austin scored in. When Romo returned four weeks later against the Skins, Austin suffered his second knee injury of the season.

Is Austin a route runner like Marvin Harrison? Nope.

Is he nothing but a speedster? Nope.

He's a young wideout in need of game reps who is getting better in all phases of the game.

And the beauty is we don't need Austin to be anything special with all the weapons available to us.

Austin will gets reps based on what the coaches think of him and his production in games.

To Fin, that is perfect.

No hand outs, earn what you get.

 

[DeaconMoss]

agree. He seems to be playing pretty well and progressing. Who knows where he could be without all the injury setbacks.

 

[odog422]

And yet your blowing off his December returns does what for your point?

Bottom line is I am not making excuses as to why the guy hasn't shined.

Just show me the goods in regular season.

Whose blowing off December? He isn't the number one WR, his opportunities have been limited due to injury. Pointing at Austin in December and saying fail really doesn't carry weight when you look at Romo's production, as well as his own injury, and the performance of the offense as a whole.

Given where Austin came from I don't see how you can point to December factoring in the above as "proof" of his failure to produce. It's not excuses. It's a fact that it's a team sport and as a wideout, your opportunities are dependent on the play selection, the OL and the QB. That's a fact, whether you choose to ignore it or not.

And again, he has shown the goods. Just obviously not to the All-Pro level it seems you are looking for.

 

[Bizwah]

I disagree, NYC.

A receiver with nothing but speed is a useless toy.

Randal Williams was lightning in a straight line and he could barely get on the field as a wide receiver while with the Cowboys. He had 1 catch in 35 games with the team before joining the Raiders and having a little success as a tight end.

Good point. It's not fair to compare Austin to guys like Randal, Deveren Johnson, and Macy Brooks (even Stanback). They never seemed to improve or produce.

Austin has produced more than any of them did....I preseason games and regular season games.

Miles Austin is still a work in progress after making a monumental jump in competition from college to the NFL, but he has already made a lot of progress.

Again....solid point. Folks want to write Austin off. Why? I would understand if he had made zero progress...like Williams. But Austin has made great strides every year. He's a solid KO returner, he's a good special teamer, and last year he made some great plays as a WR.

Austin, IMO, hasn't reached his full potential. Now, I'm not going to say he'll be a number one guy...although he has the tools. But I think he can be a very solid number three. Even at the fourth WR position (I really like Hurd as third right now), he can be valuable.

Kevin Ogletree is getting a lot of love for his work against the Niners, and deservingly so, but Romo looked and found Austin on more occasions.

The theme to this year's offense is spreading the wealth with Terrell Owens no longer on the squad.

Would Romo throw to Austin if he didn't have confidence in the young wideout?

Romo really likes Austin. That much is clear. He even said last year that he expected big things from him. Unfortunately, his progress was stunted by injuries to his knee.

Austin had 3 touchdowns last year.

The first was a 60 yard bomb against the Packer, his second score the next week was an 11 yarder against the Skins and his third was a 14 yard ad lib option route two weeks later against the Cardinals.

Austin missed a long touchdown on his first catch against the Packers by taking a bad angle and allowing the safety to get him. He missed a 14 yard TD against the Bengals by not getting his hands together quick enough and letting the ball go straight through them (it was caught by Patrick Crayton in the back of the end zone).

So Austin scoring 3 touchdowns in four weeks was almost 5 touchdowns.

I don't think that was an accident and it wasn't purely because of speed, either.

True....Austin was really coming into his own.

Tony Romo was injured in overtime of the Arizona game, the last contest Austin scored in. When Romo returned four weeks later against the Skins, Austin suffered his second knee injury of the season.

Romo's injury really derailed our season. I really think it slowed Austin as well. They were really starting to gel some.

I remember the Skins game well. Austin burned Smoot on a slant route for about 20 (called back by a bogus holding call). The play Austin was hurt on was pretty indicative of Romo's confidence in Austin. Third down, Romo flushed from the pocket....play breaks down. Austin cuts off his crossing route, Romo flips him the ball for a first down.

That was it for Austin for a while.....When he came back in, things never seemed to click for the two.

Is Austin a route runner like Marvin Harrison? Nope.

Is he nothing but a speedster? Nope.

He's a young wideout in need of game reps who is getting better in all phases of the game.

And the beauty is we don't need Austin to be anything special with all the weapons available to us.

Austin will gets reps based on what the coaches think of him and his production in games.

To Fin, that is perfect.

No hand outs, earn what you get.

Hit the nail on the head. The more reps he gets....the better he'll be.

Now, he'll need to earn the reps. Right now, from what I've seen, Hurd's earned the three spot. But Austin will get his.

If he "hits the wall".....or gets lazy....then, we can move on.

I really can't understand why so many don't like the guy. I understand why some aren't confident in him....He's an UDFA from a tiny school. He's not as natural a WR as Hurd or Crayton.

But to expect nothing from him is a little ridiculous.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Whose blowing off December? He isn't the number one WR, his opportunities have been limited due to injury. Pointing at Austin in December and saying fail really doesn't carry weight when you look at Romo's production, as well as his own injury, and the performance of the offense as a whole.

Given where Austin came from I don't see how you can point to December factoring in the above as "proof" of his failure to produce. It's not excuses. It's a fact that it's a team sport and as a wideout, your opportunities are dependent on the play selection, the OL and the QB. That's a fact, whether you choose to ignore it or not.

And again, he has shown the goods. Just obviously not to the All-Pro level it seems you are looking for.

Not once have I suggested he should have shown an all-pro type of game.

Nor have I suggested his lack of production during the most critical time of our season - December - is a deal breaker.

But it appears so many are building a case off three catches and ignoring three games where he didn't do squat. Get open and the ball comes to you.

This malarkey about TO and his attitude ignores that other players did get the ball.

Get open and get thrown to.

So when he pulled a Caspar act in December, how is that not also part of his history that has some significance?

Selective memory of his games doesn't paint the entire story.

I want consistency, not excuses.

 

[Bluefin]

I remember the Skins game well. Austin burned Smoot on a slant route for about 20 (called back by a bogus holding call). The play Austin was hurt on was pretty indicative of Romo's confidence in Austin. Third down, Romo flushed from the pocket....play breaks down. Austin cuts off his crossing route, Romo flips him the ball for a first down.

That third down reception against the Skins set up what proved to be Martellus Bennett's winning score from Tony Romo on the very next play.

As for the receivers this year, I don't care who is #2, #3 or #4 out there with Roy Williams.

All have their strong points and can help the team in different ways.

I want all to find success.

The more things this offense can do, the harder it will be to stop.

 

[CATCH17]

That third down reception against the Skins set up what proved to be Martellus Bennett's winning score from Tony Romo on the very next play.

As for the receivers this year, I don't care who is #2, #3 or #4 out there with Roy Williams.

All have their strong points and can help the team in different ways.

I want all to find success.

The more things this offense can do, the harder it will be to stop.

It's looking like we will have a #3 receiver by commitee and may even rotate Crayton out some too.

We have a lot of guys on this team who bring their own special niche to the table.

So I don't think we can just set it in stone as to which guy will be #3 because I see Austin, Hurd, and Ogletree all having a role in this Offense.

 

[Bizwah]

Not once have I suggested he should have shown an all-pro type of game.

Nor have I suggested his lack of production during the most critical time of our season - December - is a deal breaker.

But it appears so many are building a case off three catches and ignoring three games where he didn't do squat. Get open and the ball comes to you.

This malarkey about TO and his attitude ignores that other players did get the ball.

Get open and get thrown to.

So when he pulled a Caspar act in December, how is that not also part of his history that has some significance?

Selective memory of his games doesn't paint the entire story.

I want consistency, not excuses.

You simply can't look at the stats and say, "he did nothing in December" without wondering why.

It's not excuses.....there are facts.

What changed from Sept/Oct to December for Austin?

1. The knee injury. This is the weakest of the reasons I'm about to give. But you don't suffer two knee injuries in a year without some kind of effect. Now, he went out to play, so you would expect him to perform. Like I said...weakest of the arguments.

2. Roy Williams. This is the biggest change for Austin last season. He went from being the number three WR (which is on the field quite a bit), to the number four WR (fewer opportunities). It was about this time that Bennett began to emerge.

3. The entire team fell apart. It's easy to point out Austin's December and say that it wasn't good. But then, point to ANYBODY on this team and say they did play well. Ware and Ratliff may have had the best Decembers....but even Ware did little his last five quarters.

I challenge you to find one of our players that didn't see their stats take a nose dive in December. There's one that I'm thinking of....Choice....but that's it.

TO's production fell, Witten's production fell, Barber's production fell, Romo's fell. Sure, you can argue that Austin's production was non-existent. But what do you expect from the fourth WR on a struggling offense?

Our whole season is riding on hoped improvement from guys that had stinky years last year. Why single out Austin?

TD, I've always respected you....and I still do....I agree with you on almost every subject. I understand that we get carried away with developmental WRs.

We went YEARS unable to develop guys. Macy Brooks, Stepfret Williams, Deveren Johnson, Randal Williams, etc....I get where you're coming from.

But we're beginning to see a turnaround I think. Crayton has been a very solid WR. Austin and Hurd have both produced so much more than any of the guys we tried to develop from 1997 through 2004.

They've ACTUALLY shown SOMETHING......I think they'll continue to improve.

 

[odog422]

Not once have I suggested he should have shown an all-pro type of game.

Nor have I suggested his lack of production during the most critical time of our season - December - is a deal breaker.

But it appears so many are building a case off three catches and ignoring three games where he didn't do squat. Get open and the ball comes to you.

This malarkey about TO and his attitude ignores that other players did get the ball.

Get open and get thrown to.

So when he pulled a Caspar act in December, how is that not also part of his history that has some significance?

Selective memory of his games doesn't paint the entire story.

I want consistency, not excuses.

The remark referring to Owens as malarkey makes me question what is really driving your point. I said earlier that I wondered if those who were Owens supporters were trying to denigrate Austin were doing so because Jerry singled him out as a factor in replacing Owens. Maybe you were in the camp upset because we released him, or maybe you weren't. I would tend to think so with that remark. If I'm wrong, my bad.

That said, I didn't say you said he needed to be All-Pro and I'm not ignoring December. I'm saying you are singling him out and ignoring facts. Again, who on the team offensively played well in December?

But your intital point that this has morphed from was that he had to show you something during the season. He has done that. In his limited opportunities as the 3rd or 4th receiver. If you want to argue consistency, then you have to allow for the offense functioning at an optimum level for him to have a chance at doing so. If the offense is in the tank, I highly doubt you will receive significant contributions from your 3rd or 4th receiver, let alone your primary guy. As was the case last December.

 

[MapleLeaf]

...discussion about route running and past Cowboys players you can't start this without talking about Terry Glenn.

I believe there was no Cowboy better at getting separation from the defender. All of our present WRs could help themselves by watching film on Glenn.

 

[UnoDallas]

OMG
I watched the last game first half three times

both Austin an Ogletree got open ?

does not matter how - they were open an that was againest one te best corners in the league (supposedly )

and still made some nice catches

Ogletree would of had a TD if Romo get any power on the throw - Ogletree was behind the D

8 pages of BS

IMO

my gawd guys let them play in a real game

before you jump all over them

 

[TwoDeep3]

The remark referring to Owens as malarkey makes me question what is really driving your point. I said earlier that I wondered if those who were Owens supporters were trying to denigrate Austin were doing so because Jerry singled him out as a factor in replacing Owens. Maybe you were in the camp upset because we released him, or maybe you weren't. I would tend to think so with that remark. If I'm wrong, my bad.

That said, I didn't say you said he needed to be All-Pro and I'm not ignoring December. I'm saying you are singling him out and ignoring facts. Again, who on the team offensively played well in December?

But your intital point that this has morphed from was that he had to show you something during the season. He has done that. In his limited opportunities as the 3rd or 4th receiver. If you want to argue consistency, then you have to allow for the offense functioning at an optimum level for him to have a chance at doing so. If the offense is in the tank, I highly doubt you will receive significant contributions from your 3rd or 4th receiver, let alone your primary guy. As was the case last December.

Sorry, no grassy knoll TO conspiracy for you. I waited until after the season and then quietly began stating I thought he needed to go.

I just think the TO is pouting so we didn't throw to Austin as one of the biggest manufactured excuses ever for a player like Austin.

In the heat of battle Romo is not standing there ignoring open receivers because his butt slammed shut thinking about how miffed TO would be to not get the ball.

That flies in the face of any logic you can apply.

No, he has shown you. Not me. Your argument about him being the third or fourth option doesn't begin to discount that Romo was touting him and if he were open he would get the ball.

Please don't take this as me picking a fight. But I do not accept the "reasons" you offer for his lack of production.

You say they rebut the consistency comments. I say they are excuses.

Get open and you get the ball.

But the argument in another post that suggests all the offense was down is acceptable if Austin had a catch in each game. He had one in three games.

That speaks as loud as three TDs in four games.

All other things you mention included.

Again, this will reveal the results by November when we have had an adequate sampling of his work to judge his worth.

 

[TheSport78]

exactly.

whoever thinks he runs good routes has no clue what good routes are.

they must not have heard him get called out last night by Babe for running with poor weight distribution making his cuts awkward.

passes routinely being sailed over one's head means that either the qb is awful or the player can't run routes. as fast as austin is straight ahead he is horridly slow in and out of breaks.

he does run nice crossing routes because that requires no real break just speed.

wr speed is about balance and agility, austin has track speed.

austin should have a package of plays but he isn't a starter in the nfl by far.

I agree 100%. He's the type of WR that you have special plays designed for. Austin is terrible out of his breaks like many on this board have already said. Austin has great "straight line" speed, so he could obviously be good running double moves, fly patterns, crossing routes, and WR screens like we saw last week. He's a specialty WR that will make occassional big plays in the passing game, but is ridiculously inconsistent, and has a value on special teams as a kick returner. He's one of those "guys" who you need on your football team. Think Troy Brown. He may not be flashy but he's good at what he does.

 

[Tenkamenin]

I agree 100%. He's the type of WR that you have special plays designed for.

And thats all we'll need him for

I expect us to pound the ball with Barber, dump some passes to Witten and Bennett, and move the chains on third down with Roy. If we're lucky Felix will take a few runs to the house. We're going to be a tough offense to stop, opposing teams bettter pray for false starts because thats the only way our drives will fail.

 

[TheSport78]

And thats all we'll need him for

I expect us to pound the ball with Barber, dump some passes to Witten and Bennett, and move the chains on third down with Roy. If we're lucky Felix will take a few runs to the house. We're going to be a tough offense to stop, opposing teams bettter pray for false starts because thats the only way our drives will fail.

Absolutely. People also forget about Sam Hurd, not as a WR, but as a tremendous blocker. I think by far he's the best blocking WR we have on this team. That will only help the running game even more. I expect to see a lot of one-on-one matchups for Marty B (think 2nd Commanders game) and he'll take advantage of that. Ogletree could be the wildcard if he keeps showing improvement. Romo seems to like him a lot. Witten and Barber are money; they are the heart of our offense. Felix is a matchup nightmare for any opposing defense. Our offensive line is healthy and protecting Romo for the most part. This team cannot afford many injuries. The depth of this team has regressed in the past year or two. That's the only thing I'm worried about. The only thing that can stop this team is the Cowboys themselves.