St. Louis Rams; season’s top performers through the Bye Week

Oct 4, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin (11) breaks a tackle from Arizona Cardinals free safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) to score a 12 yard touchdown during the first half at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t know that we’ll call this rising to the challenge, as the next player on this list has struggled with consistency, but wide receiver Tavon Austin has certainly gotten off to a solid start this year.

Austin has had a rough start to his career in St. Louis. Taken with the eight overall selection in the NFL draft in 2013, Austin was looked upon as a player that could have an immediate impact. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Now rejuvenated, and with the promise from new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. to get him more involved in the offense, Austin has totaled four touchdowns in five games to start 2015. He has receiving touchdowns in consecutive games in the last two weeks and added a rushing touchdown in Week 1. Cignetti has been true to his word allowing Austin to show off his skill set by getting him the ball in space and averaging five targets per game in the passing game.

Ausitn has tremendous speed and can be very dangerous in the open field. He has been fighting off the “bust” label all season long, and seems to be doing a good job of it through six weeks. However, like most offensive players on the Rams, consistency hurts the young star.

Through six weeks, Austin only has 144 receiving yards. If you add in his rushing yards, your total only grows to 243 all-purpose yards. If you take away his 96-yard performance against the Cardinals, his next highest receiving yard total would be his 38-yards against Pittsburgh. If Austin hopes to become a mainstay in this league, he will need to find another level.

Next: Leading the team in targets and offensive production...