Tavon austin

Swope could last till 54 easily, but if he really helps Tannehill, I'd be willing to reach a little at 42. I doubt he lasts till our 3rd rounders. Denard would be able to be a jack of all trades as he is acclimating into the offense IMO. He'd be a consideration if we don't get Tavon IMO. Had Michigan played him at WR throughout his college career he maybe considered a 2nd rounder now at the least. I thought he looked pretty good at WR at the Combine, all things considered.

 

swope in the slot would be nice even more so if we manage to sign Wallace in Free agency just those 2 players would make our offense way faster

 

Not sure how Swope is a reach at 42 but Austin isn't a reach at 12.

 

Based on where I've seen ranked on what I'd consider reliable sites. I've seen Austin ranked around 20 and trending upward. I've seen Swope ranked in the mid 80s, also trending upward. NFL.com says Austin's grade is an 85.4 which is considered an immediate starter/1st rounder. Swope's grade is a 67.4 which is a draftable player, 4th rounder.

Perhaps that doesn't jibe with your personal draft board.

 

It really depends on if we go after Wallace, if Wallace's skillset is on this team, I would have Eifert and Austin as very close as to what skillset would compliment Wallace, I mean both would compliment Wallace beautifully, my goodness, both would be matchup nightmares underneath, what an inside out scenario that would be..

For me, when these evaluations started, I said that Eiferts skillset would have the most impact on our Qb and offense, the need for his type of skillset is at a high, Austin has evened that matchup, but it sure is tough, I'm out on Patterson at 12.

 

My gut tells me this year will be different PD..I think there will be a conscious effort to revamp this offense with skillset players, I don't see us going oline at 12..if we resign Jake, we won't, if we don't resign Jake, then we'll go free agency route to avoid putting another rookie on the line.jmo..

 

If so I'm willing to wipe the slate clean with Ireland. This Goodfellas. F* You, Pay me. We need to get paid this year.

 

If we take a LT in the 1st we'd need to trade up. The big 3 are all going before 12th. We may take one in the 2nd or 3rd, but logically, if Jake leaves, our left tackle in 2013 was drafted in the 2nd in 2012.

 

Every mock draft I've seen with Johnson falling to 12 or below was before the combine. Sure, anything is possible, but IMO the odds of him being on the board are getting less every day. However, if KC resigns Albert, that will improve the odds because then they'd be less likely to go for a LT. Still, Oakland, Philly, Arizona and San Diego could all use one of those 3.

 

The bottom line to this argument is this. Is Tavon Austin a guy that Jeff Ireland and Joe Philbin will like?

In both cases, I can see the argument for and against. With Jeff, it is pretty well known that he was hot for Percy Harvin back in 2009. In fact, I was reading some archived articles last night and read where Miami brought Percy in for one more interview on the night before the first day of the draft, and they were pretty much zeroed in on him for their pick. Obviously, Percy didn't fall to them, and Miami didn't make an aggressive move to get him when he got into range. They ended up with Vontae Davis instead.

However, Jeff also likes players to have prototypical size. IMO, if they have a special skill and do not fit the prototype size characteristics, Jeff is more than willing to make an exception. Will Tavon be a guy that an exception is made for?

Concerning Joe Philbin, I'd love to see what his view on Randall Cobb is. Randall didn't do much on the field as a receiver during his rookie season, which was Joe's last as coordinator in Green Bay. He was mostly a return guy that was behind Jennings, Nelson, Jones, and Driver at the receiver position. It wasn't until this year, and really until Greg Jennings got hurt that Cobb broke out. However, based on his history in Green Bay, Joe is experienced with receivers that can play both inside and outside. I personaly feel Tavon lacks the size to do that, and the 2 inches and 20+ lbs that Cobb and Harvin have on him helps them when they have to play outside.

 

I'll add this too. It was probably November or December of last year that I started hearing that Miami had been to see Ryan Tannehill play at Texas A&M a lot, and that Jeff Ireland had personally attended a couple of games. At that point in time, I had a feeling that Tannehill was going to be in play for Miami.

Well, this year, Jeff has personally been to three West Virginia games from what I've heard, the last of which was the Pinstripe Bowl vs Syracuse. He also saw them play against South Florida, and I forget what the other game was. So, he's obviously scouting one of, if not both of the WVU receivers heavily.

With the talk that Richard mentioned in another thread that their top free agent target is not a receiver, it could make sense that their plan has been to take a receiver in the draft. While I disagree with the selection, it would not surprise me to see them go ahead and take Tavon Austin.

 

I see Chris Steuber has moved Tavon to his #1 receiver spot and #14 overall prospect today. He must be reading our thread.

 

Steuber is also adamant that Mark Sanchez is a franchise quarterback who has just not been supported properly in New York.

 

Solidify the growth of the most important position in football by surrounding him, overwhelmingly, with talent. Someone please get me an Advil.

 

Daniel Jeremiah has Tavon going 22nd in his latest mock draft. 3rd WR off the board. He has Patterson going 11th to SD and Allen going 12th to us. The Mighty Tavon keeps trending upward.
Jeremiah, as I'm sure you know, used to work as a college scout for the Eagles, Browns, and Ravens, so IMO he carries more credibility than any of the other media analysts. Some may suggest, well, if he were any good as a scout why is he not doing it still? I'd say, he very likely makes more money in his current gig and have much better work hours.

 

Polian is an idiot...this is the same guy who wanted to trade away Peyton Manning after his fourth season in Indy.

 

Where is his web site? I'd like to read his entire rankings.

 

Ourlads.com

 

Other than Lane Johnson, his list looks pretty good.

 

I was listening to Howard David and Gil Brandt on NFL Radio this AM. They started talking about Tavon Austin, and David asked the question that if you are Miami and need a playmaker this badly, is 12 too high to take him. Gil didn't really answer if this was too high to take him. What he did do was talk about how he would fit in the NFL. Gil called him a 40% player - a guy that you can design about 40% of your offense around to get him in match ups, but he says he is not an every down player. Basically, he is saying that his size limits him.

I guess the question is this. Are Gil Brandt and Bill Polian just too old school in their thinking, or are their legitimate reasons to believe that his size will be a detriment to trying to play him as an every down receiver, both inside and outside?

 

That's an interesting question. To me, it's probably a combination of the two- old school and have concerns about his size. Size is obviously a concern in the back of everyone's mind or else Russell Wilson wouldn't have gone in the 3rd round, nor DeSean Jackson at pick 49. I think the question we have to ask ourselves is, should it matter in Tavon's case? So let's break down whether or not he can be an every down player.

1. Stamina. This is obviously not an issue.

2. Injury potential. This exists for everyone, but DJ has pointed out Tavon looks to have good bone density and has enjoyed an injury-free career thus far. Tavon has outstanding vision and sees the hit coming quicker than the typical ball carrier. He has the elite quick-twitch ability to adjust to hits and not absorb them. His low to the ground build should keep his knees freer from hits by taller defenders who most often won't be getting that low. There are plenty of 6'0+ 200+ pound receivers/backs who possess a greater injury potential by way of their playing style and taller height making them more exposed at times. All in all I'd say Tavon's injury potential is less than a 1st round running back prospect.

3. Intelligence (to learn the system and multiple positions). Was there a non QB in D1 ball who had a larger playbook to learn and greater responsibility bestowed upon him than Austin? Not only did he learn it but he executed it with precision and at an elite level. He wasn't a jack of all trades master of none like we might expect from a player with that much on his plate. He executed in all phases. Not only is his body quick-twitch but mentally he seems quick-twitch, too, as he seems to process and react at a quicker rate than everyone else on the field.

4. Separation ability. Tavon has this in spades, not just from elite natural ability but from smart route running as well, and the underlying ability is there to easily get open at all 3 levels. He's not a one trick pony using speed to beat defenders; he sets defenders up and embarrasses them, in both man & zone.

5. Route running ability. Tavon has this in spades as well. I'm not sure I've ever seen a guy who's this fast yet this sudden and in control of his body. Typically guys with his speed are straight line guys like Marquise Goodwin & Jacoby Ford. Every trait of his is elite. He possesses Davone Bess caliber route running potential but with 4.3 speed, and he's well on his way there b/c his route running looks good and is already quite diverse for the position.

6. Beating press. He'll likely spend 80+% of the time in the slot where being pressed isn't much of an issue. When factoring in the outstanding above traits with the fact he has good core strength & 14 reps on the bench, and tremendous athleticism, I don't see why being pressed should be an issue. If no more than 20% of his time is spent outside then roughly no more than half of that time should be vs teams who play press coverage, so all in all he won't be spending a great deal of time vs press. However, I'd say pressing Austin with little or no safety help is a big play waiting to happen in our favor.

7. Hands. Locates the ball quickly & has reliable hands, leads to a low drop rate. Can catch in traffic, go up or down for the catch, adjust quickly to behind throws, and make the diving grab. Has sideline awareness. Doesn't play scared; rarely preoccupied by closing defenders to where passes get in on him.

Then I look at the Oklahoma game. If 5'9 174 Austin can carry the ball 21 times vs the Sooners and de-stroy them to the tune of 347 rushing yards, then IMO his size shouldn't be an issue playing slot in the NFL. I also look at him racking up 180+ receiving yards as a junior against one of the nation's top pass defenses (LSU) that allowed just 170 yards/game in the air. Even more impressive is Tavon did it with a diversity of routes.

 

Just look what Percy is doing to the NFL, last year was in MVP consideration...

I don't trust any coach who says that Tavon Austin is not a fit, if I ever here those words as to why we didn't draft him if given the chance, I'll be an enemy of that coach..it makes me stupid just thinking about it..

Yeah no, don't want a guy who run sub 4.3's, explosive, precise, hands, and is a bottom line, football player.

It's a tony sparano not having the acumen to design offensive plays for tebow situation so they dont play him.

Don't trust anyone who says this imo, hope I don't hear it out of our staff..

 

Let me ask you guys this: with Ireland's time being so valuable and only so many weeks available to scout games live, doesn't it make sense that the games Ireland attends would most likely be ones that involve 1st round consideration players?

Let me restate it another way, what are the chances Ireland watches WVU play three times last year b/c of a 2nd-3rd round player like Stedman Bailey? Wouldn't that be somewhat excessive and counterproductive to deciding our #1 pick?

Tavon Austin. He overwhelmingly seems why Ireland would spend that much time watching WVU. I'll put money that he's our frontrunner, and if we pick him I'll put money that it comes out Ireland's Austin crush began when being sent to watch Pat White. The closer it gets to the draft the higher Tavon will climband the more and more analysts will start saying Austin makes the most sense, similar to what we saw with Tannehill last year.

 

Ever heard of Joe Madsen???

 

Yes.

 

I don't think Austin played at WVU during Pat White's last year. Austin was a senior in high school in 2008 if I'm not mistaken. Maybe you mean he fell in love with some of the concepts of that offense when watching Pat White. That was the draft though that Miami was dead set on taking Percy Harvin, who is a bigger, stronger version of Tavon Austin.

I have to restate what I heard on the radio. I heard the replay of the discussion when I got out to get my son some chicken nuggets tonight.

Basically, David didn't ask if Austin was a reach. He asked if Gil thought he could be a primary down the field target for the Dolphins. Gil responded by saying that he was a 40% player. Where I mispoke was that I said Gil made the comment that you can gear 40% of your offense around Tavon, but what he actually said was that you can include Austin in about 40% of your entire offense. He said that Austin had unbelievable quickness, unbelievable speed, but that he wasn't an every down player. His reasoning for that was that at 5'8", "those guys just aren't every down players."

My only concern about Austin's size is how will he use his body to shield the defender when he has someone either bearing down on him or someone that is in his hip pocket? I know you believe that having someone in his hip pocket will be few and far between in the NFL, but it's going to happen. When WVU played Texas this past year, Austin really struggled with the coverage that Kenny Vacarro gave him. Texas played two man coverage against WVU, and Austin struggled to get open and get away from Vacarro.

 

ever heard of so what?

yeah, that's the ticket, Ireland spent 2 of 15 valuable weekend scouting trips and ignored the prospect-rich Texas-Oregon St bowl game in order to check out a 2013 rookie FA center when we have Pouncey. Cmon man, you're double-dribblin' all over yourself.

 

That's totally my fault. Had a brain fart and was thinking of Pat's draft year rather than the actual season year. Well, something happened between then and now to grab Ireland's attention. What you said (Harvin & some of WVU's concepts) makes sense, although IMO Austin has it in him to be a better route runner than Harvin so I could see the two players balancing each other out in the end.

That and his catch radius are my only "concerns", but they're not defining concerns for me. I'm kinda happy he's 5'9 b/c if he were 6'0 we wouldn't be talking about him at #12 b/c he wouldn't make it this far.

I didn't see any struggles vs Vaccaro in the Texas game. He caught 10 passes for 102 yards and a TD. I'll take those struggles all day long.
[video=youtube;bG20wQoaies]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG20wQoaies[/video]
(3:40) Had a step on Vaccaro on a nice 15 yard shake route but the pass was too far in front.
(4:11) Severely held by Vaccaro in double coverage on 3rd down post route in endzone. Missed call. Would be 1st & 1 on the 1 in the NFL.
(4:33) 4th & 9 easily beats Vaccaro for the first down.
(4:42) Shreds Vaccaro on a little hesitation slant that would've been an easy TD had Geno not been sacked.
(5:05) Eats up Vaccaro on a quick out.
(5:25) This is head up, Tavon vs Vaccaro, bring your best and I'll try to stop it, and Vaccaro doesn't stand a chance. Gets juked after catch and barely trips him up.
(5:33) 4th & 6 Vaccaro loses on another out route. Austin makes the catch in tight coverage.

**Don't see where Austin struggled here TBH. Looks like he had a great game vs a defender who will be drafted in the first round to become one of the NFL's top safeties meant to minimize or stop situations like the above, yet even he couldn't stop Tavon.


There's also a handful of tough catches in traffic vs Baylor (whom he lit up) in the above clip:
5:54
6:16 seam route
6:29
6:45
7:19 TD
8:37. Notice what Austin's presence does for Stedman Bailey on this 87 yard TD.


The above route at 4:42 reminds me of what Jennings did to Asher Allen on this TD:
[video=youtube;_io8KhzGdZg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_io8KhzGdZg[/video]

 

You are right. After rewatching the texas clips, and rewinding every play several times, Tavon didn't have trouble getting open against Vacarro. Vacarro did a great job of not letting him get loose though. He didn't have a ton of RAC yards in that game outside of the TD that he caught, which was an excellent design on the play that created his space.

 

That caught my eye as well, and he should get some credit for that, no. Considering how terribly tough Tavon is to cover, would you give Vacarro a plus grade? I'm having difficulty deciding.

That shake route Tavon runs (like at the 3:50 mark vs Texas).... it's unstoppable b/c of how sudden & explosive he is. That's a bread-and-butter play IMO, especially when he runs a quick hitch off that stem, a slant, go route, post, post-corner, deep out, and out curl all of which he's had success with; then you still have to worry about him cutting it in 90 degrees on a crosser and from there worry about him either sitting down in the middle, running a jerk route, or turning it upfield. What he does off his 45 degree inward stem is just as impressive, led by that dangerous pivot route that leaves defenders losing their footing.

On that 3:50 play, it's amazing Vaccaro had a full head of steam and the angle and Tavon still easily pulls away from him.

 

IMO, Vacarro is a match up defender right now with the potential to be an outstanding all around safety down the road. Alen's got a couple of great articles on him where he talks about his coverage vs Austin and also how he isn't such a great tackler and sometimes takes false steps when playing in a single high set.

 

Went through receiving years for players under 6'0" and 180 pounds for references sake:

http://www.pro-football-reference.c...500&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=rec_yds

 

Polian doesn't make any sense. For a guy that supposedly was a great GM, he's pretty awful to listen to.

 

Vaccaro has some quality in his game. Really good movement skills; it's just above the shoulders where you have to wonder about him at times.

And in reference to the jerk route, as coaches call it, it was fantastically done. It reminded me of Eddie Royal and how well he ran it prior to getting his career derailed by injuries. In the infamous 2008 Cutler non-fumble game against the Chargers, Royal ran it beautifully in the red zone for a touchdown. Here's the video, as you may recall. It's out of the trips bunch set towards the top of the screen.

[video=youtube;w9jrvX9z2mg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9jrvX9z2mg[/video]

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...team-should-consider-in-2013-nfl-draft/page/6


I kind of agree with this, if we don't get a WR in round one I would look at this kid.

 

That's a pretty good list. Seeing Anthony Armstrong's name on there made me think, here is a guy who is 5'11 and 175 yet no one ever expressed concern about his durability or size around here. It seems like when you're 5'10 or above it is like some threshold where the concerns wane. If it is a single digit for inches after the 5', well then red flags, for some, just automatically go up. Wallace is 6' and 180. Austin will likely be 180 in a year or two. All the concerns about Wallace are due to his limited route tree, not weighing 180. I do not recall one voice of concern here for Wallace being a twig at 6' and 180.

 

As I recall, Royal ran the same exact route to make the catch for the 2 point conversion.