Tavon Austin

Tavon Austin may have tough transition as Rams' deep threat

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin has seen only 15 of his 181 career receptions travel more than 15 yards in the air.

What It Means:

New Rams head coach Sean McVay wants Austin to be more like DeSean Jackson in 2017, but the supposed big-play threat has averaged 9.1 yards per catch for his career. His 2016 mark of 8.8 was third-to-last amongst wide receivers, and Jackson averaged literally twice as many yards per catch. Part of it has been Austin's usage, but the odds of him suddenly developing into a viable deep threat are slim.

Out of the 41 wide receivers to see 100-plus targets last season, Austin's 0.27 Reception Net Expected Points (NEP) per target were by far the least in the group. Next closest was Jeremy Kerley with 0.45 Reception NEP per target.