If I'm Snead it's Tavon OR Schotty

[Merlin]

In terms of offseason planning and the way forward, I don't think the two of them are compatible, plain and simple.

Schotty is best served with big WRs who can win one on one matchups in a power offense. My reasoning in making that claim is he is not savvy at utilizing formations, pre-snap movement, etc to dictate to the defense and get the desired effects, and that minimizes the impact of a player like Tavon Austin.

Some of you I am sure will say that Tavon has no value, or little value league-wide for trade purposes. But I do not feel that is the case. Fact is teams still key on him like crazy defensively. They're still terrified of his big play ability from the games he blew up defense on only a few occasions last year. That tells me there is probably a team that will allow the Rams to recoup some of the draft value they spent on him IF they plan on keeping Schotty around next year.

So yeah. I know the offseason is a ways off and things can change. Tavon starts going off consistently then obviously I rethink that strategy. But from where I'm sitting right now Snead and Fish have a big decision to make, as it's not a good organizational direction to have a talent like Tavon running bubble screens and quick curls. They're gonna have to have a push to move forward even if it means moving Tavon to a team that will value and utilize him.

 

[Boffo97]

If Schotty truly cannot adapt to use the rare resource that Tavon brings, then he needs to go. I'm not sure we can say definitively that is the case though.

Conversely, I'm pretty sure that if you approached anyone on the Rams with the idea of dumping Tavon for whatever we can get for him, they'd laugh in your face.

 

[12intheBox]

It could be the Tavon still isn't quite getting it yet.

 

[StevenG-BR]

Can't say I disagree. I don't know who is at fault. I think they both deserve some blame. Scotty isn't creative enough & isn't giving Tavon enough opportunity, and Tavon isn't capitalizing on his touches.

It's painful to watch Tavon's college highlights. We have seen NONE of that this year, except for that one punt return TD that was called back.

Even Amendola can take one freaking punt to the house every now and then. Tavon hasnt been an improvement over Amendola as a returner, and he's been much worse than Danny as a WR.

For what it cost to grab him, he's been a total disaster.

If he doesn't wake up this season, I think the Rams should admit their mistake by trading him for whatever they can get. It's clearly not working out here.

 

[yrba1]

I'd wait till year 3, that's when Quick broke out. However, I'd like to see more go routes with Austin, I remember he got one from Clemens @Indy and that was a rainbow of beauty.

 

[jjab360]

No, Tavon hasn't lived up to the hype, but I don't see the rush in getting rid of him. Doubt we get good value if we trade him and his contract isn't really that bad, so I see no downside in giving him time to develop and giving Schotty time to figure out how to use him better.

 

[TexasRam]

Can't disagree with OP.

But Tavon when used has been really Succesful for us. We are just underutilizing him. Need more reverses, pitches, drag routes creative plays in space, dump offs etc. He still needs to learn how to run a route. Been rounding off too much and not getting seperation.

 

[A55VA6]

Seems like we use Tavon more as a decoy rather than giving him the ball. I think there's a lot of ways we could use him other than running up the middle, WR screens, and crossing routes. In my opinion, Schotty just doesn't have the creative mind for it. But then again, What's Cordarrelle Patterson doing with an OC like Norv Turner? Not much, either.

One thing that bothers me about Tavon is instead of just running and making people miss, he just dances and looks for a running lane but ends up getting tackled before he even makes his move.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Tavon's pretty small and I wonder how easy it was for Davis to see him coming from the slot, probably hard to run him on drags and such when Davis is only like 6'2 - Hill's a hair taller but it might help.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Tavon definitely needs to get going in terms of production and impact i agree. However, if he gets traded or whatever...this offense becomes far easier to defend. Play the run and focus on Cook in the passing game.

If the Rams were to decide to move him, i would think a draft day trade would be the best way to go about it. Teams are in the mood for new toys and they get bravely googly-eyed on draft day.

 

[StevenG-BR]

I'd wait till year 3, that's when Quick broke out. However, I'd like to see more go routes with Austin, I remember he got one from Clemens @Indy and that was a rainbow of beauty.

I agree with the 3-year rule, but it's a little different for players like Tavon IMO.

With electric speedsters like Tavon, who usually have short shelf lives in this league, the 3-year rule kinda goes out the window. He might not master the routes or the offense in the first two years, but juking & outrunning people is instinct. We should be able to see some of that even if he isn't fully developed.

Look at Percy Harvin and DeSean Jackson. They didn't play like All Pros at the beginning either, but their rookie years left no doubt that they have special skills.

We haven't seen that from Tavon, outside of special teams. He had the one big run against Chicago, but he has pretty much been a non-factor on offense.

With what we paid, with what his skill-set is supposed to be... we should be seeing a lot more from him on offense, even if he hasn't mastered the system. It doesn't take Faulk-like knowledge of the game to stretch the field on occasion with a zero route, or to break free for the occasional big gain.

As of now, he has been little more that a good-but-not-elite punt returner. That's it. I'd trade '14 Tavon for '10 Amendola in a freaking heartbeat.

Schotty hasn't helped, but let's stop with that already... Tavon has had touches. He has been given chances. He's just not getting it done. He's simply not as electric at this level as we wanted him to be... at least not yet.

He can make the occasional big play. So can Bailey, Givens or Britt. He's just not a big difference maker at this point.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

schotty to tavon after the britt td - "you set it up man".

i don't care if he's the one making big plays or if he's helping someone else make big plays. as long as he's helping the rams win. this isn't fantasy foootball.

.

 

[Thordaddy]

The only way Fisher gets rid of Shotty is if someone hires him away IMO , he named him in his praises after Sunday's along with Cigneti , if someone offered us the 8th pick in next years draft for TA (AFC only ) I'd take it, but I think we see some spectacular things going forward from him as we get into teams we can score bigger on and we see teams trying to survive with single high safeties and both our outside guys deserving of double coverage (IOW TA outside ) .

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Schott has not used Tavon right. He may have good game plans but he is not he most comprehensive thinker. He loses sight or forgets about things that were successful. Tavon on go routes worked....have we seen that all year?

 

[theramsruleUK]

This is what we drafted him. He was simply incredible.
Why are we not seeing this on the field currently?

For starters, we drafted him thinking he'd be a part of our new "spread offence" in 2013.
Schotty is simply not effective enough to create a passing scheme like that as his bread and butter is running the ball. So that pretty much left Tavon as a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. He'd be perfect in a scheme like the Eagles or Bronchos have.

Secondly, Tavon needs to improve when he does get the ball. Granted he doesn't get it much and its often failed WR screens and runs between the tackles when he does get it, but he still needs to improve. His punt returns aren't good this year either

Thirdly, The constant changing at QB will have a massive effect on Tavon's use. The reason Hill and Davis look to Quick, Cook and Britt is because they are big bodied receivers with a big catch radius. If the timing is off on a pass, or the route is taking slightly longer to develop, these guys are much more of a target to hit. This is vital when a new QB comes in and his timing and chemistry will take time to develop with his receivers. Tavon is extremely fast, small and agile. If the timing is off on his route or the QB has to hold the ball for that bit longer, it's much harder to give him the ball in stride.

Can he be a success as a ram. Sure. still early yet

 

[V3]

Schotty needs to go regardless of what happens to Tavon. He's simply not a very good OC. He can script out some decent drives but that's it. His ability to adjust is horrible, IMO. Considering that football people don't think he's that good, either, I don't get why anyone still defends the guy. As long as he's the OC, I have little faith in our offense ever doing much.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

This is what we drafted him. He was simply incredible.
Why are we not seeing this on the field currently?

For starters, we drafted him thinking he'd be a part of our new "spread offence" in 2013.
Schotty is simply not effective enough to create a passing scheme like that as his bread and butter is running the ball. So that pretty much left Tavon as a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. He'd be perfect in a scheme like the Eagles or Bronchos have.

Secondly, Tavon needs to improve when he does get the ball. Granted he doesn't get it much and its often failed WR screens and runs between the tackles when he does get it, but he still needs to improve. His punt returns aren't good this year either

Thirdly, The constant changing at QB will have a massive effect on Tavon's use. The reason Hill and Davis look to Quick, Cook and Britt is because they are big bodied receivers with a big catch radius. If the timing is off on a pass, or the route is taking slightly longer to develop, these guys are much more of a target to hit. This is vital when a new QB comes in and his timing and chemistry will take time to develop with his receivers. Tavon is extremely fast, small and agile. If the timing is off on his route or the QB has to hold the ball for that bit longer, it's much harder to give him the ball in stride.

Can he be a success as a ram. Sure. still early yet

One thing that would improve Tavons play is to stop doing the leg scissor and just run! So many times the hole is there if he just runs! Instead he is allowing defenders to close in on him. Just Freakin Run!

 

[V3]

This is what we drafted him. He was simply incredible.
Why are we not seeing this on the field currently?

For starters, we drafted him thinking he'd be a part of our new "spread offence" in 2013.
Schotty is simply not effective enough to create a passing scheme like that as his bread and butter is running the ball. So that pretty much left Tavon as a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. He'd be perfect in a scheme like the Eagles or Bronchos have.

Secondly, Tavon needs to improve when he does get the ball. Granted he doesn't get it much and its often failed WR screens and runs between the tackles when he does get it, but he still needs to improve. His punt returns aren't good this year either

Thirdly, The constant changing at QB will have a massive effect on Tavon's use. The reason Hill and Davis look to Quick, Cook and Britt is because they are big bodied receivers with a big catch radius. If the timing is off on a pass, or the route is taking slightly longer to develop, these guys are much more of a target to hit. This is vital when a new QB comes in and his timing and chemistry will take time to develop with his receivers. Tavon is extremely fast, small and agile. If the timing is off on his route or the QB has to hold the ball for that bit longer, it's much harder to give him the ball in stride.

Can he be a success as a ram. Sure. still early yet

I think catch radius is very underrated here. A small target puts all the onus on the QB. They have to hit the target perfectly or it's an incompletion or worse. The QB's job is already hard enough.

That doesn't mean shorter WR's can't be effective but that means they have to have traits/talents in other areas to compensate. Things like great route running, long arms, high vertical, physicality, etc. That's where I see an issue with Tavon. He doesn't have any of those things to make up for his small radius. Speed and quickness only go so far and can be neutralized by the defense. It's imperative for Tavon to become a great route runner if he's ever going to have success because he has a VERY small catch radius.

 

[Zombie Slayer]

I don't know exactly what is wrong and how to fix it. But to me when Tavon has more rush attempts than receptions at this point in the season, something is wrong.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I think catch radius is very underrated here. A small target puts all the onus on the QB. They have to hit the target perfectly or it's an incompletion or worse. The QB's job is already hard enough.

That doesn't mean shorter WR's can't be effective but that means they have to have traits/talents in other areas to compensate. Things like great route running, long arms, high vertical, physicality, etc. That's where I see an issue with Tavon. He doesn't have any of those things to make up for his small radius. Speed and quickness only go so far and can be neutralized by the defense. It's imperative for Tavon to become a great route runner if he's ever going to have success because he has a VERY small catch radius.

His QB at W. Virginia had no trouble getting him the ball and Stedman seems to be able to reach the balls thrown his way alright.