Removing Tavon Austin from returning punts long overdue for Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has decided to remove Tavon Austin from returning punts, which is the right decision.

To say Tavon Austin has been a disappointment for a majority of the season for the Los Angeles Rams would be a huge understatement when considering all of the struggles he’s been going through. Not only has Austin failed to make that much of an impact in the passing game, but also the turnovers on special teams have been a major issue.

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Luckily, Sean McVay made the wise decision this week to remove Austin from punt returns, and rightfully so when looking at how he’s already fumbled the football four times, with three of them going for losses. For now, it looks like McVay will use Cooper Kupp or Pharoh Cooper in the return game instead, which will easily be an upgrade over Austin since these two youngsters shouldn’t have any issues dropping the football as much.

After seeing the ridiculous amount of money Los Angeles is paying Austin, it’s understandable why McVay has been doing everything in his power to take advantage of the receiver’s speed whenever possible. But unfortunately, that’s been the main issue for Austin since no matter what area he tries to get involved in, the only thing that seems to be effective is the ground game.

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Look at the numbers through five games (five catches for 19 yards compared to 108 rushing yards with a rushing touchdown) on Austin’s end, and it’s easy to see why there’s so much frustration towards the former first-round pick. And now that Austin has proven that he doesn’t have what it takes to handle the responsibilities of a return man on special teams, the Rams just continue to waste money on the wideout when looking at the lack of production in numerous areas.