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- Jul 31, 2010
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All he needs is to do is catch the ball and then he becomes supersonic with elusive moves. I still pinch myself that he's a Ram and I'm sure there are other teams GM's that punch themselves for letting us get him at #7. Cards game in AZ, the Cards fans held their breath anytime he touched the ball. He is a touchdown waiting to happen. And he's just a baby.
Agreed Elmgrovegnome. These stats aren't surprising and actually confirm what we saw with the "eye" test last year.
Then again - teams were very very committed to stopping him on the screens. They were aware of his ability to break big plays and wanted it stopped. If he gets more of a reputation for busting the top off a defence then the underneath will open up for him.
Poor blocking and design didnt help but if someone gets a hand on him he is stopped. If he gets separation he may be the most exciting player in the league in the open field. I understand the desire to get big plays out of screens as they are low risk. But the effectiveness of WR screens has gone down as everyone made it a staple of their passing game.
This is where the onus returns to Schottenheimer.
Does he have the ability, week in week out, to use the talent that is there ....to balance a power running game with a passing game that best utilizes the talents of Austin, Cook ect?
I agree he isn't hard to bring down and isn't going to break a lot of tackles. But that's OK with me.
That's how I remember Marshall! That dude was a magician when it came to avoiding contact. So many of those big runs had just subtle little dips in direction, I'd swear he had eyes in the back of his head.Fine by me as well.
I rarely saw Bruce even get tackled. He would quickly fall to the ground when he knew he was caught.
He had a nice career playing it safe.
Pro Football Focus @PFF
Tavon Austin caught nine screen passes for only 15 yards. Gained 32% of his yards on crossing routes, highest % in league
Tavon Austin gained 209 yards on 57 routes run when lined up wide (3.67 yards/route run). Gained 207 yards on 237 routes in slot (0.87 YPRR)
Poor blocking and design didnt help but if someone gets a hand on him he is stopped. If he gets separation he may be the most exciting player in the league in the open field. I understand the desire to get big plays out of screens as they are low risk. But the effectiveness of WR screens has gone down as everyone made it a staple of their passing game.
This is where the onus returns to Schottenheimer.
Does he have the ability, week in week out, to use the talent that is there ....to balance a power running game with a passing game that best utilizes the talents of Austin, Cook ect?
Fine by me as well.
I rarely saw Bruce even get tackled. He would quickly fall to the ground when he knew he was caught.
He had a nice career playing it safe.
Sometimes when he and Holt did the turf dive I'd get aggravated, I'll admit it LOL.