Los Angeles Rams: Playoff chances tied to Tavon Austin?
The Los Angeles Rams playoff chances for 2017 are remote, unless Tavon Austin finally reaches his potential as a wide receiver.
The terms “Los Angeles Rams playoff prospects” virtually has been nonexistent during the 2017 offseason. The team enters the season with a new coaching staff. Its best player, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, wants a new contract. The Rams have not yet complied. They have questions at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, the offensive line and the secondary.
So it seems far-fetched to attach remote Rams playoff hopes to one player. Unless that player is wide receiver Tavon Austin.
Austin has had a workmanlike four-year career with the Rams. He’s averaged about 45 catches for 410 yards with an additional 240 rushing yards and five touchdowns per season. Productive numbers, but hardly deserving of the four-year, $42 million contract he signed with the team before the start of last season. The Rams have expected more out of the former eighth pick overall in the 2013 NFL Draft.
A recent Turf Show Times roundtable consensus pointed at Austin as the player most likely to fall out of favor first with the new staff if the team struggles in 2017. Eddie Perez wrote:
"The new staff (and sheepish Rams fans) will soon see Austin is not DeSean Jackson lite. He cannot run a crisp route to save his life, and on top of that, dude can barely catch a tennis ball."
Austin underwent surgery to his left wrist in May, causing him to miss Rams OTAs. He’s back for training camp. Rams coach Sean McVay hopes Austin can simulate the role speedster DeSean Jackson had with the Washington Redskins when McVay was offensive coordinator from 2014-16.
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The odds of Austin becoming another Jackson seem long initially. However, he could become the catalyst for an offensive renaissance if successful. McVay’s scheme utilized Jackson as a deep threat. The coach should have a sense of whether he can do the same with Austin.
Believe it or not, Austin had more receptions (58) than Jackson (56) did in 2016. But Jackson had 1,005 receiving yards to Austin’s 509. The Rams desperately need someone to extend the field and keep opposing defenses from stacking the line to stop running back Todd Gurley.
Gurley averaged 141.5 rushing yards in his first four starts before defenses keyed on stopping him. And that was behind an offensive line that was considered one of the worst in the NFL in 2016. The Rams have added three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Andrew Whitworth and center John Sullivan to that group.
If Austin can become a deep threat, Gurley will flourish.
That will create so many more opportunities for quarterback Jared Goff. A deep passing threat combined with a proven rushing attack will give wide receivers Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp a chance to make plays underneath.
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And suddenly, the Rams could have a potent enough offense to accentuate a Wade Phillips-coached defense. That makes a Rams playoff push more than just wishful thinking.