Tavon Austin

[spiketex]

I didn't see any West Virginia Mountaineer games but I'm really curious to learn more about Tavon Austin. How can a player so tiny - 5'8" and 174 lbs, be in contention for a 1st round draft grade? How did the big defensive players not physically hurt him? Is he too small for the NFL?
statistically he should be too small but every now and then a freak comes along who is blessed with incredible speed and talent to defy the experts rules. Welcome your comments...

 

[Geforce]

I didn't see any West Virginia Mountaineer games but I'm really curious to learn more about Tavon Austin. How can a player so tiny - 5'8" and 174 lbs, be in contention for a 1st round draft grade? How did the big defensive players not physically hurt him? Is he too small for the NFL?
statistically he should be too small but every now and then a freak comes along who is blessed with incredible speed and talent to defy the experts rules. Welcome your comments...

I think Evan Silva's article Tavon Austin, Satellite Player may describe this best.

Tavon Austin is a satellite player. He undresses defenders in space, utilizing outstanding vision to set up opponents before breaking them down. Austin starts, stops, and restarts on a dime. His change-of-direction ability is special and will remain so in the pros. Among NFL skill-position players, only Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, C.J. Spiller, and perhaps Jamaal Charles can match Austin's combination of foot quickness and short-area explosion. He's like a lankier, more naturally elusive Darren Sproles.

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/cfb/42574/321/tavon-austin-satellite-player

 

[gregorygrant83]

Desean Jackson of the Eagles is 5'9 175 pounds, almost the same size as Austin. Austin is small, but he is special when he gets his hands on the ball.

 

[NUGap]

We hear a lot about Tavon Austin's big play ability, while he had some deep catches, here's how a good amount of his big plays came:

This is a TD against Maryland, that represents a pretty average catch for Tavon. He gets matched up on a slower linebacker on a 1-5 yard route, usually a crossing route. Catches it, makes some LBs miss and then takes it upfield. The majority of Austin's YAC came on these shorter passes:

[video=youtube_share;BtTqmWphlwg]http://youtu.be/BtTqmWphlwg[/video]

Click to 3:29 in the video which is a 4th and 4 on the 40

[video=youtube_share;-4-UnlJzLoc]http://youtu.be/-4-UnlJzLoc?t=3m29s[/video]

My main concern is that these shorter routes taht are consistently open for Tavon, where he can generate tons of yards after the catch, won't be available in the NFL. I worry that faster linebackers and safeties will either shut these routes down or close running lanes up the sideline where he gains a lot of yards, leaving him with below-average to average YAC when catching it in other areas of the field. The numbers show he has good hands, but I don't know if that's enough to get him through in the NFL.

 

[WVUBOB]

I didn't see any West Virginia Mountaineer games but I'm really curious to learn more about Tavon Austin. How can a player so tiny - 5'8" and 174 lbs, be in contention for a 1st round draft grade? How did the big defensive players not physically hurt him? Is he too small for the NFL?
statistically he should be too small but every now and then a freak comes along who is blessed with incredible speed and talent to defy the experts rules. Welcome your comments...

Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AAWC5t0trY

 

[xXwarXx]

Sorry, I don't trust drafting any player who is a 175 lbs high in the draft. I've seen this story over and over, draft after draft, fast quick undersized players, with awesome highlights, come into the NFL, and do nothing but remind me why not to draft them.

 

[ciscoholgate]

Tavon Austin is an intriguing pick because you can line him up all over the field and create the mismatches.

You catch a team off guard and if a line backer is lined up against Austin, you know you've won the play before the snap.

He's got special speed an play making abilities. I imagine some team will take a flyer on him and use him similar to Sproles.

 

[spiketex]

Sorry, I don't trust drafting any player who is a 175 lbs high in the draft. I've seen this story over and over, draft after draft, fast quick undersized players, with awesome highlights, come into the NFL, and do nothing but remind me why not to draft them.

You sound like a graduate of the Parcells school of drafting. And you may be right again, but Austin looks like he's very slippery and kind of special. Relax, Jeff Ireland is one of Parcells honors graduates and would probably not consider Austin because of his size.

 

[next-year]

No doubt in my mind he's going to be a PROBLEM in the NFL for Teams to figure out how to stop.