Will Tavon Austin Benefit From Sean McVay as Los Angeles Rams Head Coach?

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin failed to live up to the hype during the 2016 season, but hopefully that will change with Sean McVay as head coach.

Prior to the start of the 2016 season, the Los Angeles Rams made a surprising move when they rewarded wide receiver Tavon Austin with a hefty four-year, $42 million extension. Even though he managed to find the end zone 10 total times during the 2015 season, the decision to reward Austin with that amount of money was heavily criticized by many, and rightfully so when considering he never recorded more than 500 receiving yards in a season.

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Austin may have finally crossed the mark this past season after hauling in 58 catches for 509 yards to go along with three touchdowns, but these still aren’t the type of numbers expected from a team’s No. 1 wide receiver. In fact, it was Kenny Britt that made the biggest impact for Los Angeles on offense after becoming the team’s first 1,000-yard receiver since the 2007 season with Torry Holt.

From a money perspective, the argument can be made that Austin’s extension will go down as one of the worst decisions from the 2016 season after the former first-round pick failed to live up to expectations, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to turn things around. With the Rams taking a risk by making history with bringing on the youngest NFL head coach in Sean McVay, Austin finds himself in a situation where he gets the chance to work with an offensive mastermind.

After seeing the type of production McVay was able to get from his players as offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins, one can only hope the new head coach has already thought about ways to get Austin more involved with the offense during the 2017 season. Despite all of his struggles from the last four years, McVay is smart enough to realize that Austin’s speed is a talent that can’t be put to waste, and is capable of causing all sorts of problems to opponents.

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Austin’s hype may have left fans disappointed after seeing his lack-of-production in 2016, but here’s to hoping the wideout flourishes with a new head coach in McVay to turn his career around before it’s too late.